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Paper products

Despite predictions of ‘the paperless office’, office paper remains essential to our work, and New Zealand as a whole uses about 48,000 tonnes of it every year. Sanitary paper products are essential in washrooms and kitchens but present a significant impact on the environment because they cannot be recyled.

The global impacts of paper production and use are significant. They include contribution to climate change, air and water pollution, soil erosion, loss of forest habitat, and waste to landfill.

Paper consumers who wish to help reduce these impacts can choose to take the actions recommended below.

Recommended actions

Refer to ecolabels

Prefer products with an Environmental Choice New Zealand licence (EC-26-07 Office Paper and Stationery) or other third-party audited life cycle ecolabel, or can show that they meet similar criteria.

Other examples: Good Environmental Choice (Australia), Nordic Swan, EU Flower, Blue Angel (Europe) or EcoMark (Japan).

EMS labels such as ISO 14001, EMAS, or EnviroMark are not equivalent, as they do not demonstrate impact reduction.

Buy recycled

Recycled.

Prefer paper products with post-consumer recycled content – minimum 30 per cent, best 100 per cent.

See the benefits of using recycled content paper below

Protect ecosystems

For paper products with virgin fibres, prefer those made from fibre sourced from third-party certified legal and sustainable forestry.

Reduce toxics

Prefer paper products which have been bleached with reduced use of chlorine – minimum ECF (elemental chlorine free), best TCF (totally chlorine free) or PCF (process chlorine free). For some applications (packaging, folder covers and sanitary papers), unbleached paper is an effective option for retaining functionality while reducing toxin use. Other toxins used in paper-making in addition to bleaching agents (eg. EDTA, APEOs, dyes) are addressed by lifecycle ecolabels such as Environmental Choice New Zealand.

Maximise resource efficiency

Reduce your demand for office paper by, for example:

  • using electronic versions instead of paper copies
  • ensuring your printers and copiers can print two-sided (duplex), and that this is set as the default
  • setting fonts and margins to improve efficiency of paper use
  • re-using single-sided copies for rough drafts and notepaper
  • printing in booklet format (two pages per sheet)
  • using the mailbox option on printing devices to reduce uncollected printing. Savings from buying less paper can help cover costs if the more sustainable paper brands are more expensive.

Reduce waste to landfill

  • Recycle your waste office paper.
  • Prefer packaging which has recycled content and is recyclable.
  • Avoid paper products that are labelled, coated or treated and would prevent paper recycling.
  • Compost your waste paper towels and napkins.

Organisations that choose to implement the recommended actions also contribute to other core sustainability principles, as follows.

Energy efficiency

Choosing life cycle ecolabelled products and/or recycled content papers supports energy-efficient paper production.

Water efficiency

Choosing life cycle ecolabelled products and/or recycled content paper supports water-efficient paper production.

Use renewable resources

Paper is made primarily from renewable plant fibres.

Recycled.Benefits of recycled content paper

     

Recycled content paper helps to reduce a number of environmental impacts at once. Recycled paper:

  • diverts paper waste from landfill
  • helps support a viable market for paper recycling
  • reduces forestry-related impacts (soil, habitat, pesticides)
  • reduces impacts from pulping trees (energy, water, chemicals).

Energy is required to collect and process recycled paper, just as energy is required to harvest and transport trees, but the largest energy and chemicals requirement for paper is in converting trees to pulp and pulp to paper. Looking at the whole paper life cycle, large net energy and pollution savings can be achieved through using recycled content paper.

The US Environmental Defense’s Paper Task Force has created an online paper calculator based on research conducted for a peer-reviewed study of the lifecycle environmental impacts of paper production and disposal.

Paper Calculator powered by Environmental Defense        

Paper fibres cannot be recycled endlessly (fibres break down after about five cycles in higher-grade applications), and some specialist functions require paper containing only new fibres. Even when the global paper cycle reaches maximum use of recycled fibres, there will still be a significant need for virgin pulp.

Ministry for the Environment Paper Buyers Guide

The Ministry for the Environment has worked with paper suppliers to produce a Paper Buyers’ Guide (PDF 529 KB). This covers brands of office paper, commercial printing papers, and hygiene paper currently available in New Zealand.

For further information, see following resources.

Last updated: 1 July 2009