24 November 2006 – Toshiba has developed a printer that works on plastics paper – PET is the polymer employed – for use where permanent documents are not needed.
Quoted by the BBC, Toshiba TEC Europe spokesman Mike Keane said a sheet of the plastics paper could be used up to 500 times on the printer.
The system uses a heat sensitive coating on the PET film, which becomes white or black when the temperature and cooling times are changed. The printer can produce up to 12 pages per minute and has a print resolution of 12 dots per mm.
The printer, designated B-SX8R, generates much less carbon emission than laser printers and also lowers rates generated via the recycling of paper. Running costs are comparable, with each sheet of PET paper costing £5 and a reuse rate of 500 times.
Launched in Japan this year, the model is unlikely to come to Europe before 2008.
Plastics paper is of course not new, BXL’s Polyart material, now owned by Ajrobex, was established in the 1970s.
