Latest health communication news

  • Jun 09 Recycled/Sustainable Paper - what's the difference?

    When choosing or specifying a paper as a healthcare provider - you want to be responsible but at what extra cost?

    Specifying paper is quite a mine-field. It is important to factor in both costs and responsible sourcing. Until recently the cost of 'green/recycled' paper has been much higher than regular paper - but this is now gradually being addressed and is much more affordable - even for large format printing and exhibition material.

    The term recycled or green paper is quite an unclear term as there are so many different levels of recycled and what is meant exactly by it. Recycled paper isn’t always the ‘greenest’ paper as ’some’ methods have to use bleaching and chemical processes to remove the existing inks. So, we have recently been looking into the best specification for buying paper again as we needed to clarify the best combination of quality, range, cost and environmental consideration when quoting for design projects.

    We have unearthed the following:

    Recycled paper must have a minimum of between 50% or usually 75% genuine waste which is made up of any combination of A.Convertors waste: waste which has left the mill and is waste from a cutting etc to meet a commercial order. B. Printers waste: which is printed or unprinted waste collected from a printing operation and may be either guillotine waste, overs or rejects. C. Domestic, household or office waste: which may be printed or unprinted. D. Newstand returns.

    There are many organisations with their own accreditations, the National Association of Paper Merchants (NAPM) has 3 logo which reflect the amount of recycled content for instance.

    The Blue Angel mark is seen as the highest standard as it must be made of 100% waste paper. This scheme is run by the German Quality Control Institute.

    The alternative or should I say, another responsible route to follow is the FSC label (the Forest Stewardship Council).

    The FSC promotes responsible forest management to ensure you are not contributing to global forest destruction. It works by recording a Chain of Custody tracing forest products through the supply chain to the end-consumer. More and more papers, mills and printers are becoming certified by this method and is aiming to become a minimum requirement for paper specification. Talking to our printers this is what print buyers are increasingly asking for rather than specifically recycled paper when specifying paper.

    As a company we always specify FSC accredited papers and always compare this with non accredited paper and make sure the difference in cost is minimal.

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