Is 'recycled' really the best environmentally friendly option?
If you're environmentally conscious then you may think that recycled printing is the way to go. However there is often a misconception that confuses recycling with recycled when it comes to paper.
Recycling your paper is most important and most recycled paper goes in to packing materials and other applications that don't require a printable surface. Recycled paper is not suitable for printing without being subjected to similar processes that virgin paper has gone through.
Most significantly, unlike plastics and glass that use up the worlds unsustainable minerals that can take thousand if not millions of years to regenerate paper is completely different.
All virgin paper that is sold in the UK has come from sustainable forests, this means chopping down old pulp wood trees, that have been grown specifically for making paper and replacing them with new ones. Old trees are far less effective at generating the oxygen than new trees so this act is actually a very environmentally friendly way of regeneration.
Because of the current hype about recycling there has been a demand for recycled printing, and because there is demand there is a market, so we do offer recycled printing, but we do think that it’s important that you make an informed decision.
Our position is very much on the fence, we don’t feel buying recycled paper is necessary but being sure to recycle your paper afterwards is actually the important bit.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international non-profit organisation founded in 1993 to support the world’s forests.
FSC members comprise a diverse group of representatives from environmental and social groups, the timber trade, paper industry, forestry profession, indigenous people’s organisations, community forestry groups and forest product certification organisations from around the world.
It is their job to ensure that the forests are managed to protect wildlife habitat and respect the rights of local communities.
FSC Chain of Custody is the process by which the source of a timber product is verified.
Certification involves inspection and auditing of the land from which the timber and pulpwood originate and tracking it through all the steps of the production process until it reaches the end user.
Only when this tracking has been independently verified is the product is eligible to carry the FSC Logo.
All products carrying the FSC Logo have been independently certified as coming from forests that meet the internationally recognised FSC Principles and Criteria of Forest Stewardship.
Using FSC Papers for your printing is an effective way to demonstrate your commitment to sustainability.
FSC Certified Paper tells you exactly what you need to know; that the recycled or virgin fibre content of the paper comes from sources that meet FSC international standards
The PEFC Council (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation, founded in 1999 which promotes sustainably managed forests through independent third party certification. The PEFC provides an assurance mechanism to purchasers of wood and paper products that they are promoting the sustainable management of forests.
PEFC is a global umbrella organisation for the assessment of and mutual recognition of national forest certification schemes developed in a multi-stakeholder process. These national schemes build upon the inter-governmental processes for the promotion of sustainable forest management, a series of on-going mechanisms supported by 149 governments in the world covering 85% of the world’s forest area.
PEFC has in its membership 35 independent national forest certification systems of which 25 to date have been through a rigorous assessment process involving public consultation and the use of independent assessors to provide the assessments on which mutual recognition decisions are taken by the membership. These 25 systems account for more than 200 million hectares of certified forests producing millions of tonnes of certified timber to the market place making PEFC the world’s largest certification system. The other national members schemes are at various stages of development and are working towards mutual recognition under the PEFC processes.
