Status Quo
Each year 4 billion trees in forests around the world are cut down to make paper and increasingly these harvested trees are coming from endangered ecosystemssuch as the Canadian boreal forest and the Indonesian rain forest. In addition, the paper industry is now converting natural forests to monoculture plantations, or tree farms greatly reducing biodiversity eliminating wildlife habitat and requiring heavy use of chemical herbicides and pesticides.
The production of paper is both resource intensive and highly polluting. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the pulp and paper industry is the third-largest industry consumer of energy and the fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases among manufacturers. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (known as USEPA), the industry is third among industry sectors in the release of toxic chemicals to air and fourth in the release of toxic chemicals to water. Mr. Zeng, Xiao Dong, the vice chairman & secretary general of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the PRC, gave a speech on a recent interview, stating the continuous growth of paper industry at 10% annually in the “Twelfth Five-Year-Plan”. However, heavy pollution is going to be a serious issue that impedes its further growth in many cities. The pulp and paper industry ranks the top one on the list for pollution emission in the nation. Approximately, 10%-12% of waste water and 40% - 45% of carbon dioxide substances are caused by this industry. As one of the key consumers on the paper supply chain, Nissei Well Print and its subsidiaries urge a prompt response to an industrial reform to alleviate the pressure on pulp-based paper usage and gradually convert main consumption to recycled paper.
In China, environmental regulations have yet to be well enforced; such enforcement is not guaranteed in every city, particularly rural areas where environmental measures are still not in place.
Most paper is not recycled and is instead thrown away, making up a third of the municipal waste steam. As the paper deteriorates in landfills it releasesmethane, a greenhouse gas with 23 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the PRC,municipal landfills are the largest source of human-related methane emissions,and a significant share of these emissions is generated by the decomposition of paper.
Conscientious printers will want to do all they can to minimize the harmful environmental effects of publication printing. Aside from printing responsibly we should do three things:
Maximize recycled content
Maximize use of certified virgin fibers
Choose greener production
Maximize Recycled Contents
The most significant step you can take is choosing paper with recycled content. Maximizing postconsumer recycled fiber(from paper that has reached its end use)in your paper means
One hundred percent recycled is the ideal,of course,but it may not be possible to achieve this while also meeting budget and print-quality objectives. The consensus standard currently emerging in the publishing industry is based on the USEPA’s requirement for federal agencies;
still,there are publishers keeping to the highest standard and successfully using that fact in their marketing:in 2003 Raincoast Books published the Canadian edition of Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix on 100 percent postconsumer recycled paper.
Currently,though,recycled fiber makes up only 6 percent of printing and writing papers,so there is considerable room for growth as more publishers demand recycled content from their paper suppliers,the result will be a more functional recycling infrastructure,more and better paper choices,and lower paper costs.
Maximize Use of Certified Virgin Fibers
How can you be sure that the nonrecycled virgin fibers in your paper come from forests that are not endangered and that are sustainably managed? The paper you buy should carry the label of a certification program,preferably the Forest Stewardship Council.
Forest certification verifiers,usually through third-party auditors,that forests are being managed according to a set of standards for sustainability. These are the main forest certification programs:
When you buy paper labeled by any of these programs, you can be assured that the trees were harvested legally and that the forests were managed according to basic sustainability standards.
However,only FSC is endorsed as the best-practice standard in forest management by the major environmental groups,including Greenpeace, the Natural Recourses Defense Council,the World Wildlife Fund. These are the main reason why:
Because paper will be made with fibers from various forests,FSC also calls for chain-of-custody certification,which verifies that paper mills,distributors,and others handling fibers along their course keep track of those fibers-thus ensuring that the final products can confidently receive an FSC label. For paper,FSC has three on-product labels:
If you wish to print an FSC label on your publication or print any claim regarding the publication’s FSC content,the paper you use must carry an FSC label and the printer must be FSC certified. That printer will provide you with the correct label or with proper wording for a claim regarding FSC content.
You will be showing responsibility by using paper with any of these labels,but as with choosing recycled paper,it may not always be possible to choose FSC-labeled paper. You cannot choose paper with a percentage of FSC-certified fibers as you can with recycled fibers, so you need to aim for a percentage of all paper purchased. The Green Press Initiative recommends an annual aggregate average of at least 20 percent FSC-labeled paper.
Choose Greener Production
Besides maximizing recycled –and certified-fiber content, our sourcing department should also make sure that you on behalf of Nissei Well Print support paper manufacturing and publication printing processes that are as green as possible. Suggested steps include choosing environmentally responsible paper manufacturers and printers and specified print jobs to minimize environmental issues.
Some paper manufacturers do more to protect the environment, using the most advanced technologies, the most efficient mill operations,and the most effective environmental management systems. There is no comprehensive ratings program for the paper industry,so sourcing department needs to do some research before choosing a paper company and a paper product. These sites will help:
Any printing-job specs will include recycled content and FSC requirements,but these specs will also help:
Our goal is to call on green printing right away and have Nissei Well FSC certified by early 2014. We aim to monitor and decrease the usage of non-FSC sourced papers on an annual basis.
July 01, 2013