Xerox Developing a Paper that Erases Itself for Reuse

Have you ever stuffed a stack of paper into a n “interoffice mail” envelope that had passed through many hands before? In doing so you are saving your office money on envelopes and reducing the number of trees being cut down to produce the envelopes- but just imagine if you could do the same thing with the paper that fits inside. Now this isn’t exactly new information- the first press release came out in 2006 here- but the technology is still under development and made its debut at WIRED NextFest this week so it is new to us- and very cool.

Different sites are reporting different statistics about just how much paper is discarded on the same day it is printed, generally after only one use, but anybody who has ever worked in an office knows that it is an awful lot. Xerox’ Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), the same people who brought you laser printing, developed the breakthrough by printing membranes with waves of light (kind of like a CD) instead of inks. The exact processes involved are, of course, top secret, but the resulting paper bears its imprint for around 24 hours as it gradually returns to a blank state when exposed to natural light, or faster when heated. Returning the paper to the printer will erase it immediately. And as if the paper savings were not sufficiently important in helping to green the workplace, Xerox claims that the energy required to produce each individual sheet of erasable paper is substantially less than that required to produce traditional copy paper.

Xerox is responding to a real need in the workplace, a significant oversight that has taken many people by surprise as they envisioned the utopian future that new technology was to have heralded. “Think of the Google map you printed to get here,” PARC Area Manager Eric Shrader said at a product demonstration. “Thirty years ago, we said the future was paperless.” Xerox deserves to be commended for responding to legitimate needs engendered by developments in the way people use their tools in the real world. It is to be assumed, indeed hoped that Xerox stands to be rewarded for such innovation in the marketplace but it is worthy to note that their researchers can step beyond conceiving of the next widget to command the attention of a voracious consumer market and bring life to products that are accountable to environmental and economic concerns that we may have not even considered before. More coverage here and here Reuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com By Steven Adams Product Content Manager for UsedCisco.com Sign up to receive the Green Your Network blog via email

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