The Chinese manufacturer joins Print Recovery Concepts and West Point Products in producing toner cartridges that use renewable resources.
According to Print-Rite, the new bio-toners were co-developed by subsidiary ICL and an independent research company in North America.
Arnald Ho, Chairman and Founder of Print-Rite, said: “These revolutionary toners represent a major step forward in aftermarket consumables in terms of energy conservation, environmental protection, and a reduction on our dependency upon petroleum oil.
“By using a renewable resource, such as field corn, sugar cane, sweet potatoes and other grown and harvested plants as a resin source, we have shown that the aftermarket now brings to the end user, a more environmental friendly choice in addition to a lower cost alternative to the oil-based toners being offered by the original equipment makers.”
Tang Fugen, General Manager of ICL’s Zhuhai toner plant, added: “Current technology limits our use of bio-resin to a maximum of 25 percent by weight in the toner formula. However, we continue the development process and expect this level to change rapidly to over 50 percent in the very near future.”
Print Recovery Concepts launched bio toner cartridges in 2008 and announced today that it will launch its bio-toner line for around 20 Lexmark cartridges, adding to the current 30 HP models. The company says that its SoyPrint brand contains 100 percent bio toner resin.
West Point Products also launched its own line of bio-toner last year. The company currently provides eight different models of AgriTone cartridges.