A papermaking system for your office

Electronics company Epson has developed a compact office papermaking system, the PaperLab, capable of producing new paper from securely shredded waste paper without the use of water. Businesses and government offices that install a PaperLab in a backyard area will be able to produce paper of various sizes, thicknesses and types.

The product has been made possible due to the development of Dry Fibre Technology, which means just a small amount of water is required to maintain a certain level of humidity inside the system — as opposed to a cup of water to make a single A4 sheet of paper. Dry Fibre Technology consists of three separate technologies:

• Fiberising: Waste paper is mechanically fiberised using an original mechanism that transforms the paper into long, thin, cottony fibres and, in the process, immediately and completely destroying confidential documents. Since the PaperLab does not use water, it does not require plumbing facilities. That, plus its compact size, makes it easy to install in the backyard of an office.
• Binding: A variety of different binders can be added to the fiberised material to increase the binding strength or whiteness of the paper or to add colour, fragrance, flame resistance or other properties needed for a given application.
• Forming: Users control the density, thickness and size of paper. They can produce sheets of A4 or A3 office paper, paper for business cards, or paper of different thicknesses and sizes, depending on use.

The system produces the first new sheet of paper in about three minutes of having loaded it with waste paper and pressing the start button. It can produce about 14 A4 sheets per minute and 6720 sheets in an eight-hour day. There is no need to transport waste paper to an off-site papermaking facility.

Epson plans to put the PaperLab into commercial production in Japan in 2016, with sales in other regions to be decided at a later date.

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