Ink and toner cartridges are expensive, non-recyclable, toxic and energy intensive. It’s not a problem only of the ink itself but also the plastic containers they must be housed in. The housing prevents the liquid solvent from evaporating and acts as the delivery system to the printer heads. For many years, this has been an unchanged paradigm that has produced untold waste.
Finally, and to the great relief of the green gadget community, Xerox is launching a new series of models within its high-end multifunction copiers that solves these issues. The new printers use solid blocks of ink that playfully resemble huge crayons and do not require plastic cartridges. The printers themselves are also much more energy efficient, faster and cheaper to operate than their wasteful competitors.
The ColorQube 9200 multifunction copiers draw their ink by melting solid blocks of ink that don’t have to be housed in wasteful plastic. A single block of ink can print 9,250 pages. The ColorQube solid ink blocks come as four colors. The printer head uses a small amount of energy to melt needed ink (an amount of heat that a printer would produce anyway). The ink travels to the 3,000 print heads, which each have 900 ink nozzle. Each nozzle is 37.5 microns wide; human hair is 100 microns wide. The result is more dots of ink in a minute than there are people in the world and still the ColorQube 9200 prints 85 pages per minute. Xerox claims the technology can cut printing costs by 62 percent and eliminate 90 percent of the waste.
According to Xerox, a traditional office laser printer produces about 815 pounds of waste over its lifetime, while the ColorQube produces only 88 pounds; a 90-percent difference. It also cuts energy use by powering down the device when it’s not in use. The ink is a polymeric resin that is solid at room temperature and resembles a misshapen crayon. There is no water solvent to evaporate or need for plastic casing, making it cheaper and far more eco-friendly.
It may be a very long time before you can get these into your home as there are no plans for consumer models. The ColorQube 9200 is a hulking $23,500 hallway copier seen in large corporate offices. If Xerox can cut down the operational expenses of these copiers with solid ink, they will further their reputation as innovators while also attracting large competitors to develop similar technologies. This kind of competition is sure to lead to maximum efficiency, minimum costs and an acceleration toward home and small office models.
The technology is actually not terribly new. Xerox had been developing conceptual models utilizing solid ink as far back as 1991. However, a number of technological limitations and disinterested consumers caused the copier giant to be less than aggressive. Part of those limitations were addressed by spending a reported $23 million on a solid ink production plant. Xerox also reports having spent five years developing the ColorQube printer in order to achieve its amazing speed and reliability in addition to its environmental and economical factors.
