Instant Cartridge Printer makes printing as simple as ABC. The recycling printer concept by designer Yuexun Chen is based on the idea that ‘package is part of the product’ and hence tries to simplify the process of recycling printer. The printer’s packaging is made from recycled paper and is tough enough to protect the inkjet inside the package.
The size of the printer varies according to the size of the paper while the numbering on the package shows the number of pages it could print. The easy to use printer only needs to get connected to a USB to lend out a fresh print. Once done with the requisite prints the printer can be easily disassembled to recycle.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been named winner of a 2009 WRAP (Waste Reduction Award Program) award by the California Integrated Waste Management Board.
This is the second year in a row that the Laboratory has received the award, which recognizes California businesses and organizations that have made outstanding efforts to reduce nonhazardous waste by implementing resource-efficient practices; aggressive waste reduction, reuse and recycling activities; and procurement of recycled-content products.
LLNL regularly diverts more than 60 percent of all routine Lab solid waste generated, keeping approximately 2,500 tons out of landfills each year. In addition, LLNL saves more than $500,000 annually through sales of recyclables and reusable materials. The Lab also has a successful reuse program that accepts reusable materials sitewide and operates a “Second Time Around” store where employees can obtain reusable items at no cost for use in their work.
In the area of waste reduction, the Lab either reused or reduced waste in materials ranging from computers and televisions to cardboard boxes and office supplies. Waste reduction activities included the use of electronic forms and electronic circulation and review of documents. The Lab recycled many tons of materials, from lumber to batteries to copier and toner cartridges.
LLNL also has a formal program for Environmentally Preferable Purchasing, which includes preferential procurement of recycled content and biobased products ranging from office products to biofuels. The Lab also purchases other “green” products, such as cleaning products and energy efficient computers and appliances.
Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a national security laboratory, with a mission to ensure national security and apply science and technology to the important issues of our time. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
Your printer is wasting more than $300 million a year in taxpayer dollars. Well, yours and a bunch of other ones.
The General Services Administration thinks it can recoup that money — and more — by changing the way the government buys and uses printers, copiers and fax machines.
Scheduled to begin in fiscal 2011, this governmentwide “strategic sourcing” initiative is one of several that GSA and the Office of Management and Budget are coordinating.
The goal is to consolidate agencies’ buying power and adopt the best acquisition practices of government and industry, in order to squeeze industry for better deals.
OMB says the government is already saving about $857 million in fiscal 2010 through other strategic sourcing initiatives — both government-wide and agency-specific in scope — and that number could increase in future years.
“There is enormous opportunity out there,” said Dan Gordon, head of OMB’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy. “I view this as an area ripe for future savings.”
Printers are just one area of opportunity:
• GSA in September awarded a contract for domestic shipping services to UPS. The deal is expected to save $1 billion over five years, with costs 6 percent lower than a previous shipping contract also negotiated using strategic sourcing.
• Agencies will save an estimated $192 million over four years through 12 office supplies contracts finalized earlier this month. Vendors agreed to deeper discounts on 400 products under a new version of a strategic sourcing deal signed in 2007.
• GSA is also trying to use strategic sourcing to change the way agencies buy cell phones, smart phones and other wireless services. Objectives for that contract include negotiating better rates, standardizing plan types and giving agencies better information on how to optimize their use of wireless devices. GSA is bringing federal acquisition and information-technology workers together to develop the wireless initiative.
We knew printer ink was expensive, we just never bothered to put it into perspective before. And now we don’t have to, because somebody else already did, and the comparisons are pretty eye-popping.
In a graphic comparing the “relative price of different liquids,” a single mL of HP black ink #45 runs about $0.70. That’s nearly twice as much as a mL of blood, which according to the data runs less than $0.40. It’s also almost 14 times more expensive than Penicillin, which runs a little over $0.05 per mL.
So there you have it. Assuming the numbers are accurate, penny pinchers may be better off pricking their finger and refilling those empty printer ink cartridges with their own blood (please don’t try this). Of course, there’s always generic ink, which while usually significantly cheaper than “genuine” ink from the printer’s manufacturer, have also been known to clog print heads.
Inkless / tonerless printers aren’t exactly new, but here’s a more novel approach: inkless, tonerless, and completely reusable. The PrePeat rewritable printer is exactly that: using special paper made of PET plastic, you can make all the flowcharts and meeting notes you need, and when you want to start fresh, feed the paper back in to start fresh. Upfront cost is 500,000 yen (about $5,600 in US) for the printer and 300 yen for each sheet, in lots of 1,000 — which we’re taking to mean at least another 300,000 yen / $3,360 to get some use out of it. Each piece of paper is said to work about 1,000 times, but no word on how much (if any) history can be extracted from the materials — just keep that in mind should sensitive information be your daily trade. Video demonstration after the break.