“The masks that Epson will now manufacture respond to growing demand for face masks for protection against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19),” says a company press release from Nagano, Japan.

“Epson’s PaperLab A-8000 in-office dry paper making system, is a dry-process* technology that enables the processing and creation of paper on-site, in the amount you need and when you need it."

The masks will be made not from used paper, but from functional fibers and will be manufactured at the company's Kanbayashi and Suwa Minami Plants in Nagano, Japan, where the majority of its Japanese employees are located. Epson expects to begin manufacturing the masks from the end of May.

“As well as manufacturing the masks in-house for its employees, Epson will also donate 100,000 masks to local authorities and medical institutions where needs for personal protective equipment (PPE) have been expanding. The company will also donate 5,600 face shields to the same organisations.”

Epson said it does not plan to sell the masks it manufactures commercially.

“Epson often makes significant and regular contributions to realising a sustainable society and has made a commitment to ongoing efforts that realise the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals,” it added. 

For more information on PaperLab and Dry Fibre technology go here.

Epson Australia offers a range of image capture and image output products for the commercial, industrial, consumer, business, photography and graphic arts markets, and is also a leading supplier of value-added point-of-sale (POS) solutions for the retail market. Established in 1983, Epson Australia is headquartered in North Ryde NSW and is a subsidiary of the Epson Group headquartered in Japan.

*A small amount of water is used to maintain a certain level of humidity inside the system.