In an article in the Ohio Farmer(here) this new technology is being commercialized by Advanced Image Resources, a Georgia-based company and will be available later this year. AIR will produce the soy-based resin that serves as the building block for the new toner, and sold under the trade names BioRez and Rezilution.
"With more than 400 million pounds of petroleum-derived toners and resins used annually in the U.S. to make 3 trillion copies in photocopiers and printers, there is a great market opportunity for soy-based toners and resins," says Tom Gandolfi, AIR President. "While other soy-based inks have been used in the printing industry for over 15 years, gaining a 30% market share, this new technology is the first of its kind in the laser printer and copier industry."
And from the AIR site:
Specific improvements achievable with bio-based soy toners include:
- High quality of copies and prints
- Easy and ready removal of toners from fused images in the recovery of secondary fiber in a paper de-inking mill
- Simpler and less capital intensive de-inking process
- Help in finding value-added uses for office waste paper and thus increase collection and recycle of waste paper
- Raw material for toner resin is based on renewable resource and thus minimizing reliance on scarce fossil source
- Total energy savings – in the manufacture of resin, de-inking process, less need for virgin cellulose fiber
- Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions
- A systems oriented solution that helps OEMs, secondary fiber mills that manufacture de-inked fibers from office waste, waste paper collection and process industry, and society at large by offering an environmentally friendly solution that has benign impact.
I wonder if this will do the same for Soy futures as Ethanol did for corn...
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