DEDICATED TO MAKING A DIFFERENCE FIRST STEPS TO SUSTAINABILITY SERIES Which Paper? How to buy sustainable paper (and make the right choices for the environment and your business) 2010 EDITION Published by Supported by www.nzbcsd.org.nz FIRST STEPS TO SUSTAINABILITY First Steps to Sustainability FIRST STEPS TO SUSTAINABILITY COMPARED TO OTHER MATERIALS, WHY THIS GUIDE? WOOD AND PAPER BASED GOODS Most companies starting on the journey to Choosing a truly sustainable paper source PRODUCED IN A SUSTAINABLE MANNER sustainability look at the paper they use, can be a minefield. CAN BE A WISE CHOICE BECAUSE THEY: their carbon footprint and energy use, This guide briefs you on paper types, following by reviewing their travel budget • come from a renewable resource – trees sources and how they are certified. The and the vehicles they use. These Guides are • capture carbon – through Business Council has also worked with designed to make these first steps as easy photosynthesis and are its member companies, the Ministry for as possible. • recyclable the Environment and paper merchants to develop an exclusive rating chart on WHY WORRY ABOUT PAPER AND THE CHOICE: TO TAKE CARE OF sustainable papers available on the ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE? BUSINESS - AND OTHERS New Zealand market! • Over 40% of the world’s industrial Choosing the right paper can reduce your wood harvest is for paper production Now you can profit from organisation’s impact on the environment. • An estimated 8-10% of global wood It also means that by doing the right making the right choices! production is illegally logged. thing, you • Paper production is one of the world’s • Protect your highly important brand largest consumers and polluters of (reputation, image and sales) fresh water • Send a powerful signal to your staff and • The paper industry is the fourth customers that you are authentic about largest contributor to greenhouse taking practicable steps to do the right gas emissions among United States things by them and others manufacturing industries • Improve your chances of winning • Paper accounts for 7% of landfill waste in business in the fast growing sustainable New Zealand.1 procurement market , and • Forests are home to an estimated 800 • Often simplify processes, reduce paper million people around the world. Paper use – and save money! production continues to come into conflict with indigenous and other communities around the world over land rights, culture, human health and livelihoods. 1 www.mfe.govt.nz/environmental-reporting/report-cards/waste-composition/2009/index.html HOW TO BUY SUSTAINABLE PAPER Points to Ponder POINTS TO PONDER: Sustainable papers are produced by Sustainable papers are suppliers who source virgin fibre from • It’s important your supplier can sustainably harvested crops and who can demonstrate that your paper is sourced produced by suppliers provide a certified Chain of Custody system. from forests which are sustainably who source virgin harvested. So you need to know what Ask to see this “Chain of Custody” which this actually means. verifies the origin of the wood and traces its fibre from sustainably progress from forest, to mill, to product. • To reduce our environmental impact, harvested crops and we must keep as much of the already SEEING THE WOOD FROM who can provide produced paper fiber in the loop as THE TREES possible (though we will always need a certified Chain of new paper because some is archived, Cut back: Firstly, consider how to reduce used in books – and the fibres can only your paper use so that you’re only using Custody system. be recycled about five times). what’s needed. In the office, this means: • Where was your paper produced? • printing on both sides of each page • How far has it traveled to get to • reusing all the paper you can your office? • simply not printing as much • How energy efficient was the (use digital documents manufacturing process? where possible). You should also consider consolidating buying your preferred variety of paper and WHERE THE WOOD FOR YOUR seek a volume discount from PAPER COMES FROM your supplier. Most paper today is produced from wood pulp from trees. Different types of paper require different grades of wood pulp. The properties of wood fibres depend on the species of tree they come from. The paper industry uses mainly spruce, pine and hardwood fibres such as birch and fast- growing eucalyptus trees as raw material. FIRST STEPS TO SUSTAINABILITY Certified Forests CERTIFIED FORESTS • Canadian Standards Association (CSA) CAN I GET SUSTAINABLE PAPERS FROM National Standard for Sustainable MY CURRENT SUPPLIERS? About 10% of the world’s productive forest Forest Management area is certified. The two largest certification Yes. All of the main stationery stores now (http://www.fpac.ca/) organizations are: stock sustainable paper. Take a look • Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI) at the paper matrix in this guide and ask • the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (http://www.aboutsfi.org/) them for their recommendation. and the • The Australian Forestry Standard IS IT GOING TO COST MORE? • Programme for the Endorsement of (http://www.forestrystandard.org.au/) Forest Certification (PEFC). Probably but there are ways to get around There are now papers on the market in this. Sustainable papers are coming down in Although the early proponents of forest New Zealand which are from tree-free price as demand increases but there is still a certification hoped to target tropical sources including agricultural residue, price differential which for small companies deforestation, the temperate and boreal cotton, hemp, flax and kenaf. might be as much as an extra $1 per ream. forests of industrialised countries account for 87% percent of all certifications Ask your stationery retailer • Ask your stationery retailer to tell you (UNECE/FAO, 2006) and tropical forest if they have an offer on for any of the certifications in the developing world are to tell you if they have an papers on the matrix continuing to grow. offer on any of the papers • Encourage double sided printing as this Third party Certification schemes for legally will offset the costs logged timber from sustainably managed on the matrix. • Do a smaller print run, or only print forests include, but are not limited to: copies as required rather than maintain • Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) a stock of copies (http://www.fsc.org) • Consolidate your paper buying. • Programme for the Endorsement of DOES USING RECYCLED PAPER CAUSE Forest Certification (PEFC) PAPER JAMS IN PRINTERS OF COPIERS? (http://www.pefc.org/) No. Today’s recycled copier paper is high • American Tree Farm System® (ATFS) quality and technically perfected for use in (http://www.treefarmsystem.org/) copiers. If the paper jams in a copier, it is not because of the recycled content. The ream may have been open for a long time and absorbed moisture or you may have used a paper that’s not formulated for copiers. HOW TO BUY SUSTAINABLE PAPER Paper Recommendations What is the most ecologically sound, affordable paper to do the job? WHAT DO THE MAIN PAPER MOST COMMONLY PURCHASED SUPPLIERS RECOMMEND? Company Office Paper Report paper We asked each paper supplier or distributor BJ Ball Sumo Laser; Advance Laser; Sumo Matt & Gloss; Novatech; to tell us which paper they sell most of Royal Offset Hi-Brite Silk Lightweight Coated; Samurai today and their recommendation on their Spicers Reflex range of papers; 9Lives Ambassador; Media most sustainable paper. Australian 80 B&F Papers Southern Star Copier Neo Satin & Neo Matt, WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN and Offset Pro CHOOSING PAPER OfficeMax OfficeMax Multi Purpose Color Copy; Color Copy Coated plus Copy Paper The criteria used in the assessment are: • Fibre source – tree source and tree- Corporate Express EXP2000 80gsm A4 free fibre • Recycled content • Bleaching process RECOMMENDED MOST SUSTAINABLE • Eco-Labels and Company Office Paper Report paper (coated) Environmental Certification BJ Ball No preference No preference • Carbon footprint from transportation Spicers No preference No preference • Optical brightness • Cost – where known B&F Papers Southern Star Copier FSC Cocoon (100% recycled), Neo Satin & Neo Matt (FSC), Offset Pro (FSC) OfficeMax OfficeMax 100% Recycled Color Copy; Color Copy Coated copy paper Corporate Express EXP Green 50% Recycled 80gsm A4 FIRST STEPS TO SUSTAINABILITY Some Paper Facts WHAT’s IN YOUR RECYCLED PAPER? includes converters, printers and others who are Elementally chlorine free (ECF) adding value but are not the intended end-user. No chlorine gas, but chlorine oxide or other More recycled fibres produced from recovered agents containing chlorine are used for paper are now being used in papermaking. Because there are different interpretations bleaching. ECF paper can contain virgin or The choice of good recycled papers available about what pre and post consumer means, recycled fibres and accounts for 75% of all in New Zealand is increasing. In the past ask your paper supplier to be clear about what chemically produced pulp. ECF produces a “recycled paper” only had to include materials definition they use. higher yield and stronger fibres which enhances recovered after the initial paper manufacturing Recovered paper needs to be de-inked its recyclability compared to TCF. Studies find process meaning some “recycled papers” before it can be reused. This process needs that if produced in modern mills there is no may have contained mill scraps only. some chemicals and energy. Every tonne difference between ECF or TCF pulp in terms of recycled paper usually leaves about 100- Today our expectations are higher and most of their impact on the aquatic environment. recycled paper buyers specify post-consumer 150 kg of residue in the form of de-inking Process chlorine free (PCF) content to be a minimum 30% with the aim waste, which is most commonly burned for Recycled paper processed back into paper of reaching 100%.