Marketing and Communications

Paper

Paper Selection | Pulp and Paper Manufacturing | Bleaching |Paper Selection checklist | References|

Paper production has a significant impact on the environment from the destruction of virgin forest for fibre, to the toxic discharges from the pulp and paper processing. There are a number of high quality cost competitive papers that minimise these environmental impacts. The information below outlines issues in paper production and provides a simple checklist to use.

There are a wide range of papers to choose from, including different grades, coatings, colours, textures and weights. The format of your job, its intended life span and function will influence the technical specifications that you are looking for in a paper.

Paper Selection

Coated Paper

Paper with a coating of clay and other substances that improves reflectivity and ink holdout. Mills produce coated paper in four major categories: cast; gloss; dull; and matte. These papers are used for high quality, high finish publications with full colour images, where image reproduction is at a premium such as product brochures or annual reports. At the University coated papers are used for the Annual Report suite, and flagship marketing documents such as, the international prospectuses and the National Undergraduate Course Guide.

Coated papers range in quality from A1+ through A1, A2+ and A2, with the higher rated papers having better ink holding capabilities and therefore better reproduction. There are a number of coated papers available with good environmental credentials, such as those with pre-consumer recycled content, EMAS and ISO 14001 accreditation and totally chlorine free or elemental chlorine free fibre.

Novatech, distributed by Raleigh Paper, is an A2+ paper, which holds the Nordic Swan and EMAS environmental labels, and is totally chlorine free. It is also made from 100% plantation timber which carries the Finnish Forest Certificate Scheme accreditation. It is used for the cover of the Undergraduate Course Guide and the international prospectuses.

Monza, from Spicers Paper, is also A2+ and similar in quality to Novatech. It is made from 15% post-consumer waste, 35% pre-consumer waste, and 50% recycled paper. It is also elemental chlorine free. It is a good option for people wanting to satisfy environmental criteria whilst using a high quality coated paper.

Sumo Gloss & Matt from Raleigh is an A2 paper that is iso 14001 accredited and ECF.

Harvest from Raleigh Paper is made from 70% bagasse, or sugar cane waste and is also ECF. It is an A2 coated paper.

The text sections for both of the 2007 international prospectuses will be printed on Cyclus Matt. This is an A2 coated paper, which is made from 100% recycled unrebleached fibre. It is only available on indent (preorder from the mill), but is probably the most environmentally preferable coated paper available. Contact your printer about this paper, as increased demand can only have a positive affect on the availability.

Re-Art from focus paper is a 100% recycled A2 grade coated paper, which comes in both gloss and matt. The gloss ranging from 105 to 310 gsm, & the matt, 105 to 157 gsm. Re-Art is made from 90% post consumer waste, and meets the ISO 14001 environmental standard. It is a high quality paper with excellent whiteness and opacity.

The Publications Unit has been using it for many of our publications throughout 2005, with the main examples being TER 2008, A Guide to Choosing VCE Subjects and Undergraduate Enrolment Options 2006, as well as the covers of Community Access Program 2006 and the Fees booklets. It is also being used on the covers of both of the International Prospectuses for 2007 and the National Undergraduate Course Guide 2007. See www.printindustry.com/glossary.htm

Uncoated Paper

Paper that has not had a final coating applied for smoothness. Uncoated paper is absorbent and soft in appearance. Uncoated papers generally come in two grades, standard or premium. Most of the high percentage recycled papers are uncoated. Standard papers tend to absorb a greater amount of ink than coated papers, and are used for text or letterheads, or publications where image reproduction is not as critical as perhaps price, or environmental considerations. It should be noted that the ink handling capabilities of all uncoated papers is improving constantly, along with image reproduction, although the ink handling capabilities of standard uncoated papers are still definitely some way behind those of coated papers.

ome standard uncoated papers with worth consideration on environmental grounds are:

There are many high quality recycled offset papers on the market, and we have named only a few here. We would strongly recommend consulting your printer or paper supplier for all of your options. If whiteness is an issue, there are also a number of virgin offset papers which are made with the environment in mind, using plantation timbers, and ECF or PCF pulp. Your printer or paper supplier can help you to find an offset paper with a strong environmental accreditation, to suit your needs.

Premium uncoated are uncoated papers, which are highly calendered, or rolled, to produce a high quality smooth finish. Such papers will give the look and feel of uncoated paper, with exceptionally high ink handling ability and reproduction quality, which sometimes surpasses many coated papers. These papers are among the most expensive available and tend to be used for high quality publications only. Premium uncoated papers tend not to have a high recycled content, because of the stringent fibre requirements, but there are a number of stocks available that are produced using plantation timbers and TCF of ECF pulp.

Uncoated papers are also often preferred because of the feel of the paper in the hand. See www.dprint.com/glossary.html

Timber Resources

Paper can be composed of virgin wood-based, recycled and alternative fibres. Virgin wood-based fibre is sourced from native forests and plantations. In many areas, including Victoria and Tasmania, wood fibre comes from high conservation value forests including threatened species habitat and water supply catchment areas. In Australia monoculture Eucalyptus hardwood plantations provide high quality printing and writing paper and monoculture pine plantations provide low-grade papers including newsprint, cardboard and wrapping paper. A plantation differs greatly to a native forest. They are typically monocultures, established to meet human demands without the mix of trees, different ages, bushes, undergrowth, and accompanying indigenous wildlife that native forests have. Plantations are usually intensively managed and rely on the heavy use of pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and often an artificial water supply.(Australia's National Association of Forest Industries)

If you are considering a stock that is using virgin wood fibre avoid fibre sourced from native forests and ask for plantation fibre that has the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) sustainable forest management certification.

Sustainable Forest Management certification schemes have the potential to enable consumers to support wood products from sustainable forest industries. Unfortunately deciding what the 'right' management system is can be a little more tricky. There are a range of different certification schemes with very different environmental merits. Global environmental organizations such as Greenpeace & the WWF promote the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as the most comprehensive sustainable forest certification scheme.

Recycled fibres

Recycled fibre can be sourced from two categories of scrap waste paper:

High post-consumer recycled content is preferable as this helps maximise the overall environmental gains from paper recycling and encourages maximum usage of the paper in its previous life.

Tree-Free Fibres

There are a range of alternative tree-free fibres, including hemp, kenaf, and agricultural residues left over from agricultural crops such as wheat, rice, barley, oats, cotton, flax, rye and bagasse(crushed sugar cane stalks) which are used to make paper. These fibres can be mixed with recycled paper fibres and have the potential to produce excellent quality paper.

Pulp and Paper Manufacturing 

Pulp production and the bleaching process methods, in addition to the environmental practice of the mill where the paper was made, are major determinants of environmental impact.

Environmental Management System certification ISO14001, although limited, is one of the best indications of a paper mills' commitment to improved environmental efficiency in the manufacturing process. Twelve of Australia's 18 paper mills are covered by ISO14001 based EMS. For organizations based in Europe an Eco-management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) certification gives added assurance of a mills commitment to environmental improvement.

Pulp Making 

The primary method of producing printing quality paper is through Chemical/Kraft Pulping. This process uses a chemical 'kraft' process that cooks the woodchips at a high pressure and temperature, down into useable fibres. This pulp process only utilises the cellulose, which makes up 50 per cent of the wood content. The kraft pulp is lignin free and is used to make high quality writing and printing papers, that are both coated and uncoated.

Paper Yield 

The paper yield from mechanical pulping is twice that of chemical pulping, which means that it requires half as many trees to make an equivalent weight of kraft paper.

12 trees are required to make a tonne of virgin wood fibre uncoated Groundwood Paper. 24 trees are required to make a tonne of virgin wood fibre uncoated Kraft Paper.*For this calculation, 'trees' are taken to be a mix of hardwoods and softwoods, with an average height of 15 metres and average diameter of 15-20 centimetres.

Paper pulp consisting of more than 10 per cent mechanical pulp and less than 90 per cent chemical pulp is called wood-pulp paper. Paper consisting of less than 10 per cent mechanical pulp and more than 90 per cent chemical pulp is called wood-free paper.

Bleaching 

White paper, produced from tree-coloured fibres, undergoes a bleaching process. In the past chlorine bleaching was the preferred method because it produced the whitest pulp; however it produces organochloride compounds, an extremely toxic carcinogen.

Many paper mills have converted their chlorine bleaching to more environmentally-preferable bleaching methods in order to reduce their dioxin emissions.

Bleaching methods

There are three methods of environmentally preferably bleaching processes:

Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) which substitutes more benign compounds such as chlorine dioxide for elemental chlorine gas. Dioxins and other persistent carcinogens still remain in ECF effluent, albeit at significantly lower levels than from chlorine gas based processes. (Rethink Paper)

Process Chlorine Free (PCF) which substitutes benign agents such as ozone, hydrogen peroxide, and oxygen, though the pulp may contain recycled or recovered materials that were originally bleached with chlorine. (Rethink Paper)

Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) which substitutes more benign agents such as ozone, hydrogen peroxide and oxygen. (Alliance for Environmental Technology)

If you require white paper, avoid paper that is bleached with elemental chlorine. Look for a certification stating the bleaching process is either ECF, PCF or TCF.

For a paper to claim to be TCF it cannot have utilised any post-consumer recycled paper. If it claims to have recycled content this can only be pre-consumer fibre that the mill would have recycled anyway.

Paper Selection Checklist 

For the most eco-friendly paper choose paper that:

References 

  1. Evans, P. (1997) The Complete Guide to Eco-friendly Design North Light Books, Ohio, USA
  2. Rethink Paper
  3. Alliance for Environmental Technology
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