Well well well, if it isn't our good friend plastic paper again. Once upon a time, there was all kinds of talk about paper with ink built in, that could be automatically erased and reprinted. It seemed like the next best thing to a digital display. But whatever happened to it? Too expensive, too dangerous for the paper industry, too...well... too good to be true.

Thanks to the recent focus on climate change and other environmental problems, this miracle paper is back. Toshiba is selling the paper again, along with a printer that utilizes it's special qualities. The innovation cuts carbon output in two ways. First, by greatly reducing the amount of raw materials needed. Second, because the printer is a much simpler device that requires less than half the CO2 to produce than conventional printers.

Right now, the device is being aimed at niche markets like warehouses were printouts are generally discarded a lot. Unfortunately, it just isn't economical if you're not re-using every single piece of this paper over and over again, as a sheet costs about $10.

 

Via BBC  News