Book Paper and the Environment

1
Book Paper and the Environment

• AAP School Division Annual Meeting February 26,
  2009

Ed McCoyd Director of Digital Policy, Association
of American Publishers [phone] ext. 264
emccoyd_at_publishers.org
2
AAP Paper Issues Working Group (PIWOG)

• Formed in June 2005
• Forum for publishers to obtain information on
  book paper and the environment
• Guest speakers from a range of organizations
• PIWOG does not make policy statements or
  recommendations. Provides information to help
  publishers make their own decisions.
• In 2008 released Handbook on Book Paper and the
  Environment.

3
Recycling Related Definitions

• Recycled paper Paper made, at least in part,
  from recovered scrap paper.
• Recovered paper Scrap paper collected for
  remanufacturing into recycled paper. Examples
  include used/discarded newspapers, magazines,
  catalogs, office paper, etc.

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Recycling Definitions contd.

• Postconsumer recovered paper - Paper that has
  reached its intended end user before being
  discarded.
• Preconsumer recovered paper Recovered paper
  that never reached its intended end user.

5
Recovered Paper Varies in Quality

• Recovered newsprint is not of sufficient quality
  to make recycled paper for all types of books.
• High grade recovered office paper is better.
• De-inking The removal of printing ink and other
  impurities (adhesives, fillers, etc.) when waste
  paper is repulped to be made into new paper.

6
Ways cost premiums for recycled paper can be
offset or avoided

• Integrated mills
• Reducing brightness level
• Incorporating groundwood fiber
• Standardizing grades, sizes, and basis weights
• Group purchases

7
Labeling Products as Recycled

• FTC Guidelines
• 100 of the paper product must be recycled in
  order for the book to say printed on recycled
  paper.
• Otherwise the specific percentage must be
  indicated (e.g., 20 total recycled fiber).
• Must be substantiation for concluding that
  preconsumer material would have entered the solid
  waste stream
• May opt to indicate specific percentages of pre
  and/or post-consumer recycled fiber.

8
Reducing Consumption and Waste

• Lower basis weights
• Groundwood content paper
• Cut size efficiencies
• Print on demand
• High bulk papers
• Minimize packaging
• Soft proofing

9
Other Strategies to Reduce Waste

• Two-sided printing
• Smaller laydowns
• Managing reprint quantities
• Markdowns
• Recycling of unsold copies

10
Forestry

• In North America, book paper is made in mills in
  Quebec, Ontario, Wisconsin, Michigan,
  Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Tennessee, New
  Hampshire, Maine, North Carolina, and Washington.
• All mills that manufacture book paper in North
  America are certified under one of the following
  forest management systems CSA, FSC, or SFI.

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Third Party Audits

• CSA, FSC, and SFI all require independent, third
  party audits to confirm compliance.
• Certification can be of forests, the paper mills
  themselves, and of products labeled as being
  compliant with the particular certification.

12
Chain of Custody

• A key component of certification.
• The process of documenting the source of fiber
  used in a specific paper all the way back to the
  forest or forests where the trees were harvested.

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Web Sites

• http//www.certificationcanada.org/english/csa/pro
  gram_overview.php
• www.fsc.org/en
• www.sfiprogram.org
• www.pefc.org

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Green Production Efforts by Pulp and Paper Mills

• Emissions
• Water
• Energy
• Chemicals
• Wood use

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Metafore

• Nonprofit organization that works with business
  leaders (Starbucks, FedEx Kinkos, Staples, and
  others).
• Metafore Environmental Paper Assessment Tool
  (EPAT) Provides a standard way for suppliers to
  communicate environmental performance to buyers,
  and a portal for buyers to assess and measure the
  environmental impacts of a suppliers products
  based on the buyers environmental values.
• Data entered by suppliers is normalized to
  industry averages, enhancing the validity of
  comparisons between suppliers.
• www.EPAT.org

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Environmental Defense Paper Calculator

• www.environmentaldefense.org/papercalculator
• Shows the environmental impacts of different
  papers across their full life cycle.
• To compare different papers, enter the grade of
  paper you use and how much, and see how using
  less paper, increasing recycled content, or
  making other changes can reduce negative
  environmental impacts.

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Questions to Ask Suppliers

• For grade X, is there any preconsumer and
  postconsumer waste content and, if so, how much?
• Have you conducted an energy impact audit? If
  so, what were the results?
• What future plans do you have to reduce your
  carbon footprint?

18
Questions to Ask Printers

• What house papers do you stock that are 10 to
  100 postconsumer content?
• What mills do you work with for recycled paper
  options?
• Would you provide a binder of green paper
  samples?
• Would you be willing to allow several publishers
  to make a group purchase of a stock of recycled
  paper?

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• Ed McCoyd, Director of Digital Policy
• Association of American Publishers.
• [phone] ext. 264 emccoyd_at_publishers.org