PRC Technologies is now shipping SoyPrint cartridges, the first laser printer cartridges using toner powder derived from soybeans. Cartridges for the most popular laser printers are available under the SoyPrint brand at prices comparable to brand name versions currently available. Soy ink has been available for some time but this is the first soy toner cartridge for laser printers.

Debe Overhaug , president of PRC Technologies, reports 95% of soybeans are grown for livestock feed. Soybean oil is released during the process as a waste product. "We're pleased to have found a use for this product," Overhaug said. "It takes about 2 liters of oil to product the toner in a single printer cartridge and U.S. businesses, schools, institutions and governments consume over 100 million cartridges per year. That means the United States consumes as much as 200 million liters of oil each year. Now every office employee can help reduce dependence on oil every time they put a toner cartridge in their printer," Overhaug says.

PRC has completed months of extensive testing and reports the print quality and number of pages per cartridge match or exceed brand name versions. Overhaug also noted soy toner does not harm the printers. SoyPrint cartridges are manufactured in the US and will be shipped from warehouses all over the country.

SoyPrint cartridges will be easy to identify as each will be marked with SoyPrint labels. PRC refers its customers to recycled paper suppliers, recycles all empty cartridges and arranges for businesses to donate unneeded printers instead of discarding them. The SoyPrint Sustainable Printing Program includes a quarterly report to customers reflecting the oil saved and the pounds of heavy plastic recycled by using SoyPrint cartridges are returning them through a free recycling program.

"As we developed this soy cartridge, we realized if we looked at the entire printing process, any office can significantly reduce the environmental impact on our planet," Overhaug said. "This is truly the most environmentally sustainable way to print."