LEXMARK TURNS EMPTY CARTRIDGES INTO PENS

[Anonymous]

LEXMARK TURNS EMPTY CARTRIDGES INTO
PENS
A Kentucky recycler of Lexmark
International’s inkjet cartridges has come up with a novel way to reduce
waste: Convert the ink and the cartridges themselves into ink pens.
During
the past 18 months, Close the Loop, which operates in Hebron, in
Northern Kentucky, has worked with Lexmark to develop the writing tool
with the goal of taking it to market by mid-2010.

Close the Loop,
which also operates in Australia, is hired by printer companies to
recycle inkjet and toner cartridges and other materials. The company
sorts the used cartridges and separates them into component parts like
plastics, metals, foams and ink for recycling. But ink had posed a
problem.”We had been storing the ink thinking there had to be ways we
could make this ink usable,” said Jim Tocash, vice president and general
manager of North America for Close the Loop.One day, the company’s
leader asked whether it could be used in a pen. Printer cartridges are
an amalgamation of colors, so the initial thought was no, but they
tested it.

It worked, so the company set out to determine how to
use not just the ink but also the plastics and metals from the
cartridges as the body of the pens.After months of work, the pen was
made of 84 percent recycled content, said John Gagel, manager of
sustainable practices, environmental, health and safety for Lexmark.
“We’re working toward getting it to 100 percent,” he said.Close the Loop
is looking for a retail partner for the pen. The design might change as
the company is looking for a partner to modify it — “You can turn it
into any shape you have a mold for,” Tocash said — so retailers will get
a product they think can sell.The company has discussed prices for the
pens but declined to disclose them.”It’s not going to be a little 5-cent
pen,” Tocash said. “It would be more toward a roller ball-type pen
price.”Gagel added: “I think we’ve got a good shot of being widely
accepted from those looking for what you can purchase around
sustainability.”And while the pens and their revenue are Close the
Loop’s, “we get the story” and the proof of the company’s dedication to
the environment, Lexmark’s Gagel said.

Recently, Lexmark held a
recycling forum for its partners with a goal of bringing them together
with product development engineers to ensure that when a product reaches
the end of its useful life, “it gives us the best opportunity to give
them a new life,” Gagel said.”This is just an indicator of what you can
do when you allow yourself to think outside the box and form these
partnerships,” he said. “You get very creative.”
http://www.kentucky.com/964/story/1098188.html

Lexmark partners with Stamps.com
Lexington-based
printer maker Lexmark International has reached a deal with Stamps.com
to allow owners of its newest touchscreen printers to print postage
directly from the printer.
The Web-connected printers — the Platinum,
Prestige and Interact — interface with Stamps.com and allows users to
print the shipping labels and pay for postage by just pressing that
SmartSolution offering on the printer.It’s one of many such
SmartSolutions offered on the printers, which allow users to customize
their printing processes to a great degree using what are similar to
macros on computers.
For more information, visit
http://www.stamps.com/lexmark.
http://www.kentucky.com/103/story/1104147.html

[Author]

January 25, 2010 at 10:52 AM