Rewriting Desktop Printer Can Erase and Reuse Documents

Figuring out how to recycle TPS reports and office printouts appears to have become a passion for Japanese engineers, as DigInfo News has discovered in recent days. If the “White Goat” machine that converts paper sheets into toilet paper failed to appeal, consider this supposedly eco-friendly printer that can erase old documents and reuse them up to 1,000 times per special page.

The “PrePeat” printer uses a special thermal head and heat-sensitive plastic sheets to print whatever documents are required. Users won’t have to buy ink or other consumables ever again, but there’s a catch — each printer comes with a price tag of about $5,517 (500,000 yen), and the plastic sheets come in lots of 1,000 at the price of $3,300.

Such a hefty price tag means that only large paper-users might consider PrePeat. Smaller offices and individual consumers will likely stick with their old-fashioned printer and paper combos for now, and keep the folks at Dunder Mifflin in business for a while longer.