Xerox Unveils Mechanical Fiber Paper
Researchers at Xerox Labs have invented the first mechanical fiber paper which is environmentally friendly and cost effective. This ‘green’ paper could be used with traditional printers as well as for digital printing which was a challenge in the earlier attempts. MF papers previously had operational problems such as curling and dusting which prevented it from being used for digital prints.
The new paper researched is environmentally friendly as it utilizes 90% of the trees felled as against 45% for the traditional digital paper. MF paper consumes less water and chemicals for its production and can suffice with hydroelectricity to partially power the pulping process. The process of MF paper production reduces fossil fuel use and reduces the emission of greenhouse gases by 75%. Its light weight is ideal for transactional printers and snail mails as it reduces shipping costs.
But, it has its disadvantages as well – High Yield Business Paper has a level of 84 brightness on a scale of one to 100 with 100 being the brightest and is whitened using a chlorine-free process. This softer shade allows for easy reading, making it ideal for short-run books, educational printing such as supplemental course books and worksheets, and temporary business documents, which do not need a long archival life.
84/100 is dull when compared to other high end paper that is used for digital printing. Also, being treated with chlorine might not be the most-preferred choice for enterprises, printers and consumers. More importantly, the environmentally friendly paper which cannot be archived is not a very attractive product. As a consumer, I am not sure if I would be interested in something that wouldn’t last and is bright enough. But for enterprises, cost reduction is on top of the agenda and might fall into the net of mechanical fiber paper.
via Yahoo Finance
About the author:
Abhinav has been blogging about printing and related technologies on CreativeCloud for several years. He is also a project manager for a large technology company.
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