The Whitley Printing Company - Printing Resources

Paper

FSC and Recycled Paper

The largest market for paper products in the world, the U.S. consumes about 100-million tons annually. Around 25 percent of timber cut in the U.S. is used for paper production. Recycled paper has been around for years, however more and more businesses recognize their responsibility and the business advantages that come from producing all their paper — recycled and virgin — in an environmentally responsible manner.

Forest Stewardship Council

The FSC is a nonprofit organization devoted to encouraging the world’s forests’ responsible management. The FSC sets high standards to ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable way. The goal is to use market forces to eliminate habitat destruction, water pollution, displacement of indigenous peoples, and violence against people and wildlife that often accompanies logging.

Many companies are now considering how their effect on the environment impacts their brand name and customer confidence. Virgin paper consumers who wish to support healthy forests and communities can request FSC-certified products. To bear the FSC logo, paper must have flowed through the FSC Chain of Custody, which is monitored from forest to end product.

Certified to FSC Chain of Custody Standards, The Whitley Printing Company is dedicated to supporting responsible forestry and environmental sustainability through our everyday practices and by offering a wide range of FSC-certified paper products.

Recycled Paper

Since the early 1980's, recycled paper has gone from dingy gray flecked sheets to high-quality product, indistinguishable from and meeting the same demanding technical specifications as traditional, virgin, paper.

Recycled paper is now available for virtually any purpose, including:

letterhead, stationery, and envelopes
business cards
brochure papers
high-quality copy paper
offset
text and cover
book printing papers
opaques
coated papers in all grades
bristols, index, translucent, tag and board, drawing, and specialty papers

Note that paper fibers can’t be recycled indefinitely. Fiber length and strength degrade with each use, so new fibers are usually added during the recycling process. Most recycled paper will contain some new pulp.

There is no universal standard for the virgin pulp’s maximum percentage in recycled paper. “Recycled” paper can be anywhere from 10 to 100 percent post-consumer paper. How you define “recycled paper” is important (end-product, post-consumer, mill broke, etc.). Keep in mind that others may have a different definition, so be sure you understand any specifications for recycled paper, especially in bids and contracts.

Of course, choosing the right paper for the job is critical. Recycled paper is often unjustly blamed for problems with cost and runability when the real problem is that the wrong paper grade was used. Your Whitley representative will be happy to guide you in your recycled paper selection.