Close the Loop, a company hired to recycle for ink and toner cartridges by various printer manufacturers like Lexmark , has thought of another way to reduce wastes: recycle the inkjet cartridges to ink pens.
For the past 18 months, the company has been working hand in hand with Lexmark to develop the recycled pen in its Northern Kentucky branch. The target date to make the pen product available in the market is by middle of 2010.
Close the Loop also operates in Australia. It sorts the used printer cartridges to segregate components like metal, polymers, and ink. Among these, the ink poses the greatest problem because the Close the Loop has been storing inks for a long time while trying to think of ways to make these useful. The company came up with the idea of recycling the wastes to pens when one of its leaders asked if the ink can be used in a pen. Initially, the reaction was a resounding “no” since printer ink is a fusion of various colors but when it was tested, the idea worked.
Since then, Close the Loop has been finding ways to also recycle some of the plastics and metal wastes to make the bodies of the pens. The output products is made from 84% recycled materials but the company is still working on to make it 100% recycled.
Close the Loop is currently looking for retail partners to market their pen products. The recycled pen looked like this (bearing the Lexmark name since these were made from Lexmark waste materials):
However, the design might change since the company is also looking for a partner who can enhance the design. The materials are flexible enough to turn the pen’s body to any shape or size. The prices for the said pen products have already been set but is not disclosed yet. According to Jim Tocash, Vice President for Close the Loop in Kentucky, pricing will be near those of roller-type pens.
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