'Not a Single New Tree': 100% Recycled Paper Now a Possibility

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'Not a Single New Tree': 100% Recycled Paper Now a Possibility
 Printer takes recycled paper to limit
By John Schmid of the Journal Sentinel

Menomonee Falls — It's a little-known secret, but products that claim to be made from "recycled" paper often contain only a small share of recycled tree fiber. The remainder is almost always virgin pulp.

"When you deal with recycled paper, usually the norm is 10% post-consumer fiber and 30% is the upper end of the range," said Gary Jones, who heads up environmental and health affairs at Printing Industries of America, the nation's main printing trade group.

The world of recycling, however, is in rapid flux — from the technologies that de-ink and repulp paper to a wider range of what can get tossed into the recycling bin.

And one of the biggest changes is rolling off the presses at a Milwaukee-area printing company, Arandell Corp., which has taken the idea to its logical extreme of printing on pure 100% post-consumer recycled fiber.

Arandell this year began printing glossy merchandise catalogs for Patagonia Inc., a California supplier of outdoor jackets and clothing. Arandell uses satiny paper that's certified by the Forest Stewardship Council — an international nonprofit organization that promotes renewable forestry — to consist of 100% recycled fiber.

Patagonia freely admits that its new paper inflates the cost of the catalog.

In a hard-to-miss boast on its back cover, immediately beneath pictures of the Nano-Air Hoody, Patagonia claims that "not a single new tree was cut" to make the catalog.

"The new paper cost 20% more, but we went for it," the catalog states. "If you can't hug a tree right now, you could just hug this catalog."

To printers like Tom Benedict, an executive at Arandell, the special paper feels different. In the case of glossy magazine paper, made from first-generation pulp, the ink adheres to the coated surface and creates crisp photos and images. But 100% recycled cellulose is more porous, meaning it blots into the structure of the paper. Arandell needed to experiment with different inks because of the different cellulose structure.

"The challenge was to reset the ink densities," Benedict said.

Before it switched to 100% recycled stock, Patagonia used 30% recovered pulp paper, Benedict said. Arandell said it could find only one mill in North America that made 100% recycled paper: the Quebec-based mill run by Les Entreprises Rolland Inc., which has its own repulping and de-inking facility.

Prized by consumers

Arandell, founded in 1922, belongs to a long Wisconsin tradition of ink-on-paper printing, thanks to the indigenous hardwood timberlands that produced paper mills, which in turn made Wisconsin the nation's leading papermaking state. In Wisconsin, forestry, papermaking and commercial printing collectively amount to the single largest industry in the state, according to a study last year from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

Based out of a sprawling printing plant in Menonomee Falls, where 610 employees work three shifts, Arandell is the nation's third-largest printer of merchandise catalogs behind Chicago-based R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., which operates several Wisconsin facilities, and Quad/Graphics Inc., based in Sussex.

"We consider this a mega-facility," said Arandell marketing manager Bill Sunagel.

Despite its size, Arandell is family-owned and closely held, which makes it like many of the state's smaller and midsize printers. Arandell specializes in luxury merchants and high-end fashion publications for the likes of Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's.

Consumers prize recycled paper for what many see as its environmental advantages. So avid recyclers might be surprised how sparingly reused fiber makes its way into publications and other paper products.

The idea of using recycled fiber in publications is so novel that environmentalists hailed the decision this year by the National Geographic Society to use recycled paper in its signature monthly magazine, even though the magazine's paper will use only 5% post-consumer recycled fiber.

"National Geographic's recycled paper use is a tipping point for recycled paper," said Frank Locantore of the Green America Better Paper Project. The Natural Resources Defense Council called National Geographic's decision "a game-changer for the publishing industry."

Crackdown on claims

There's hardly a lack of recovered pulp. The United States collects nearly two-thirds of its paper and cardboard for recycling, and the share is even higher in Europe. Yet the nonprofit Green America Better Paper Project estimates that only about 3% of the more than 15,000 magazine titles in the U.S. regularly use recycled paper.

Until recently, printers and marketers shunned recycled paper because it lacked the strength, opacity or smoothness of first-generation stock. The problem, they said, was that tiny cellulose fibers break apart with each generation of recycling.

"Often it was a strength issue. It would just fall apart," Jones said.

It's also OK these days to toss glossy magazine paper into the recycling bin, although the practice was discouraged for years. Previous generations of de-inking and repulping technology couldn't accommodate the sludge left from the shiny coating, but that's changed and now it's easier to recycle glossy paper than regular uncoated, Jones said.

Whether recycled paper is greener than virgin paper remains the topic of vigorous debate.

Paper mills and printers in Wisconsin and elsewhere bristle at allegations that they are "tree killers." They note that paper mills in Wisconsin over the past century helped pioneer the practice of renewable forestry — meaning paper mills always plant more than they cut. The demand for paper helps ensure that land is used for growing forest cover and not subdivisions or parking lots.

The main function of the Forest Stewardship Council is to certify renewable forestry practices. "In reality, by using paper you are actually preserving the environment," said Jones at the trade group, echoing a common theme in Wisconsin.

While Patagonia was specific in the environmental claims of its magazine paper, it is the exception.

A recent set of "Green Guide" rulings by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have cracked down on environmental product claims that are vague, misleading and fraudulent. Starting two years ago, the FTC has begun to police terms like "renewable" and "environmentally friendly."

Although the FTC has not targeted paper mills and printers, the agency has served notice that printers will need to be more specific in the future about the exact content of recycled pulp, Jones predicts.

"If you are not being specific, it raises the question of what percent of recycled fiber is in there," Jones said. "Patagonia is doing it right because they are being very specific."

'Not a Single New Tree': 100% Recycled Paper Now a Possibility
 Printer takes recycled paper to limit
By John Schmid of the Journal Sentinel

Menomonee Falls — It's a little-known secret, but products that claim to be made from "recycled" paper often contain only a small share of recycled tree fiber. The remainder is almost always virgin pulp.

"When you deal with recycled paper, usually the norm is 10% post-consumer fiber and 30% is the upper end of the range," said Gary Jones, who heads up environmental and health affairs at Printing Industries of America, the nation's main printing trade group.

The world of recycling, however, is in rapid flux — from the technologies that de-ink and repulp paper to a wider range of what can get tossed into the recycling bin.

And one of the biggest changes is rolling off the presses at a Milwaukee-area printing company, Arandell Corp., which has taken the idea to its logical extreme of printing on pure 100% post-consumer recycled fiber.

Arandell this year began printing glossy merchandise catalogs for Patagonia Inc., a California supplier of outdoor jackets and clothing. Arandell uses satiny paper that's certified by the Forest Stewardship Council — an international nonprofit organization that promotes renewable forestry — to consist of 100% recycled fiber.

Patagonia freely admits that its new paper inflates the cost of the catalog.

In a hard-to-miss boast on its back cover, immediately beneath pictures of the Nano-Air Hoody, Patagonia claims that "not a single new tree was cut" to make the catalog.

"The new paper cost 20% more, but we went for it," the catalog states. "If you can't hug a tree right now, you could just hug this catalog."

To printers like Tom Benedict, an executive at Arandell, the special paper feels different. In the case of glossy magazine paper, made from first-generation pulp, the ink adheres to the coated surface and creates crisp photos and images. But 100% recycled cellulose is more porous, meaning it blots into the structure of the paper. Arandell needed to experiment with different inks because of the different cellulose structure.

"The challenge was to reset the ink densities," Benedict said.

Before it switched to 100% recycled stock, Patagonia used 30% recovered pulp paper, Benedict said. Arandell said it could find only one mill in North America that made 100% recycled paper: the Quebec-based mill run by Les Entreprises Rolland Inc., which has its own repulping and de-inking facility.

Prized by consumers

Arandell, founded in 1922, belongs to a long Wisconsin tradition of ink-on-paper printing, thanks to the indigenous hardwood timberlands that produced paper mills, which in turn made Wisconsin the nation's leading papermaking state. In Wisconsin, forestry, papermaking and commercial printing collectively amount to the single largest industry in the state, according to a study last year from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

Based out of a sprawling printing plant in Menonomee Falls, where 610 employees work three shifts, Arandell is the nation's third-largest printer of merchandise catalogs behind Chicago-based R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., which operates several Wisconsin facilities, and Quad/Graphics Inc., based in Sussex.

"We consider this a mega-facility," said Arandell marketing manager Bill Sunagel.

Despite its size, Arandell is family-owned and closely held, which makes it like many of the state's smaller and midsize printers. Arandell specializes in luxury merchants and high-end fashion publications for the likes of Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's.

Consumers prize recycled paper for what many see as its environmental advantages. So avid recyclers might be surprised how sparingly reused fiber makes its way into publications and other paper products.

The idea of using recycled fiber in publications is so novel that environmentalists hailed the decision this year by the National Geographic Society to use recycled paper in its signature monthly magazine, even though the magazine's paper will use only 5% post-consumer recycled fiber.

"National Geographic's recycled paper use is a tipping point for recycled paper," said Frank Locantore of the Green America Better Paper Project. The Natural Resources Defense Council called National Geographic's decision "a game-changer for the publishing industry."

Crackdown on claims

There's hardly a lack of recovered pulp. The United States collects nearly two-thirds of its paper and cardboard for recycling, and the share is even higher in Europe. Yet the nonprofit Green America Better Paper Project estimates that only about 3% of the more than 15,000 magazine titles in the U.S. regularly use recycled paper.

Until recently, printers and marketers shunned recycled paper because it lacked the strength, opacity or smoothness of first-generation stock. The problem, they said, was that tiny cellulose fibers break apart with each generation of recycling.

"Often it was a strength issue. It would just fall apart," Jones said.

It's also OK these days to toss glossy magazine paper into the recycling bin, although the practice was discouraged for years. Previous generations of de-inking and repulping technology couldn't accommodate the sludge left from the shiny coating, but that's changed and now it's easier to recycle glossy paper than regular uncoated, Jones said.

Whether recycled paper is greener than virgin paper remains the topic of vigorous debate.

Paper mills and printers in Wisconsin and elsewhere bristle at allegations that they are "tree killers." They note that paper mills in Wisconsin over the past century helped pioneer the practice of renewable forestry — meaning paper mills always plant more than they cut. The demand for paper helps ensure that land is used for growing forest cover and not subdivisions or parking lots.

The main function of the Forest Stewardship Council is to certify renewable forestry practices. "In reality, by using paper you are actually preserving the environment," said Jones at the trade group, echoing a common theme in Wisconsin.

While Patagonia was specific in the environmental claims of its magazine paper, it is the exception.

A recent set of "Green Guide" rulings by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have cracked down on environmental product claims that are vague, misleading and fraudulent. Starting two years ago, the FTC has begun to police terms like "renewable" and "environmentally friendly."

Although the FTC has not targeted paper mills and printers, the agency has served notice that printers will need to be more specific in the future about the exact content of recycled pulp, Jones predicts.

"If you are not being specific, it raises the question of what percent of recycled fiber is in there," Jones said. "Patagonia is doing it right because they are being very specific."

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October 16, 2014 at 11:23 AM