Kodak Wins Award for its 90% Biobased Biotoner

Eastman Kodak won the 2015 Innovation in Bioplastics Award granted by the Plastics Industry Trade Association and the SPI Bioplastics Division, for its creation of a biotoner containing more than 90% biobased and biodegradable raw materials. Kodak’s black and color biotoners are designed for all segments of the electrophotographic printing industry currently using petrotoners (those based mostly on petroleum derived resins).

Kodak created the biobased and biodegradable biotoner using low-carbon-footprint, naturally-advanced Ingeo™ resin (a product of  NatureWorks, a Cargill company), which is comprised of polylactic acid (PLA) and derived from renewable and naturally abundant resources.

Kodak’s innovative biotoners also incorporate natural waxes that only contain a small amount of inorganic material. Having such a high percentage of PLA makes the de-inking process for this material much simpler. Further, the resulting waste material contains mostly lactic acid, which Kodak notes is a useful feedstock for other plastic products and stands in stark contrast to typical residue leftover after standard de-inking processes dislodge conventional petrotoners.

According to Kodak, toner resin worth approximately $1 billion is consumed each year in the printing industry for electrophotographic toners. One third of that goes into chemical toner manufacture of which color toner production accounts for 98%. Bioresins have limited impact in the industry, accounting for only 1% of color toners and 10% of monochrome toners, but developing economically-viable biotoners that can be used at 100% incorporation, as Kodak’s innovative biotoner aims to do, can capture greater market share.

SPI President and CEO William R. Carteaux said,“The term ‘bioplastics’ has quickly grown to become synonymous with innovation, and Eastman Kodak’s creation of a biotoner that is formulated with biobased and biodegradable materials continues that tradition. SPI congratulates Eastman Kodak for winning the 2015 Innovation in Bioplastics Award and thanks all of this year’s entrants for their continuing pursuit of new applications for biobased and biodegradable materials and for supporting the expansion of choices that plastics manufacturers have when it comes to which materials they use in their products.”

“We congratulate Eastman Kodak because they did something very new and we hope that their success helps other companies look to bioplastics for the solutions they can bring,” Keith Edwards of BASF, chairman of the SPI Bioplastics Division added.

Eastman Kodak claims their biobased black and color toners will be widely available by later this year.

As we reported in the #54 Recycling Times magazine, Kodak is calling for participation in all segments of the digital printing market with the revolutionary, chemically produced toner that outperforms conventional mechanical toner (CMT). Products include replacement toner for small to medium size businesses (SMBs), larger, enterprise operations, and high-end, commercial printing plants. Kodak also seeks partnerships to explore the use of specialty, functionalized toners for applications such as security printing.