In old times parchments (stretched sheep, calf, or goat skins) were regularly recycled by scraping off the ink of earlier writings for reuse. Same basic concept and, except that the vaporized ink is probably not the best stuff to breathe in, pretty cool.
The very definition of a "palimpsest" is a page which has been reused. Most calligraphers and illuminators used gum sandarac or some other type of pumice, but Emperor Nero, who was a calligrapher in his own right, was reported to use the chopped out tongues of slaves.