What makes the perfect piece of paper?

By Kenneth Norris, Contributing Editor, Pulp & Paper International

BRUSSELS, Jan. 9, 2012 (RISI) - "As a major consumer of paper and board at HP," said Larry Tracey of HP Colorlok, "confusion reigns when choosing the right paper. If a pack of paper has a green logo on it, with a tree, a frog or a bear, most people thing it is alright to use. But there is mass confusion, especially among smaller business owners as what are the real logos to trust and what they mean."

Jim Ford, Climate for Ideas, disagreed and backup up the efforts on many NGOs to recognize FSC as the right certification for everyone. "FSC in our opinion allows people all over the world to sell their products using the logo," said Ford. "It is a great model and the way of the future. Industrializing the island of Sumatra for the paper industry is not the way ahead."

But from the perspective of the major paper producers, things are not as clear. Many companies in Europe and around the world adhere to more than one standard, hoping to capture the most market share. John Sanderson, Director of Environmental Market Support at UPM, said, "As a company, we don't hang our hat on any scheme in particular. What we do support is credible certification."

Perfect piece of paper

What makes a perfect piece of paper? How much recovered paper and how much virgin fiber might find a happy medium for everyone, industry and NGOs alike?

Jim Ford of Climate for Ideas said it would be "made from 50% recovered paper and 50% agricultural waste, and then recycled afterwards." From an environmental point of view, that would "pretty much hit the spot." John Sanderson of UPM responded that you must consider the different grades, weights, and types of paper. "The role of the fiber has to be in balance," said Sanderson.

"The problem is, you can't generalize about paper," said Sanderson. "There are so many different grades, weights and types of paper. Half recycled and half agri-waste paper might work for one grade of office paper, but for any other kind of find paper or quality board, it is a non-starter and it simply will not work."

Gareth Ward, Editor of The Print Business, explained that the environmental concerns of printers are at the forefront. "Everything comes down to the price," said Ward. The situation now is that printers are "dealing with much better informed consumers who are much more aware of labels such as FSC and PEFC, but now price is so important that printers are even considering dropping their Chain of Custody audits."

The Big Debate, organized by RISI and sponsored by HP Colorlok, was filmed in its entirety before an audience in Brussels, Belgium, and has been published in a video series on YouTube. Below are links to each video in the series.

Click here to view all the videos from RISI's Big Debate.