What do you do with paper once you’re done with it? Reuse it by flipping it over and writing on the blank side? Toss it in the recycle bin? Tear it into tiny pieces and shoot spitballs at your office mates? This perfectly odd concept would take your used paper and zap away the ink, leaving you with virtually new paper to reuse over and over. It’s like a printer, only the exact opposite.
The “Ink Removal Printer” was dreamed up by Kim Su Yeon. There isn’t a lot of information about how it works other than a mention of a laser zapping the pigment away. It is a cool idea, but there is no telling if it would be energy-efficient enough to make it a better choice than our current paper recycling methods. If it could lower the overall environmental strain of using and reusing paper, it would be superb addition to any office.