Volume 4, Number 2
May 1991

Evaluation of Recycled Papers

• Falmouth Associates (170 U.S. Route One, Falmouth, Maine 04105, 207/781-3632) has begun a three-part audit of commercially available recycled papers. It will test 70 papers that contain at least 5% postconsumer waste, on 28 characteristics, including MIT fold, surface pH (indicator method), and calcium carbonate content. No age testing is planned. Three types of paper will be included: premium uncoated, commodity uncoated, and coated, including film coated. Subscribers to the study pay only for the part or parts they are interested in: about $4000 each for the studies on uncoated paper and $3400 for the study on coated grades. After August 15, the price goes up by $500-$600. There is no way to get the information without subscribing, but the eight-page prospectus is free, and new subscribers are welcome.
• In an article in the April In Plant Printer, Judy Usherson of E.H. Pechan & Associates (703/642-1120, x110) summarizes the testing projects (mostly of recycled high-speed xerographic paper) carried out by the U.S. Government Printing Office, City of New York, State of Wisconsin, and Recovery Sciences, Inc., for the County of San Diego. The San Diego County study itself summarizes testing done by Xerox, Kodak and Pitney Bowes. Some of the papers that qualified (passed the tests) are listing in the article. The APA office is checking them out and compiling a list of winners that are also alkaline or neutral.
• In the 1990 Paper Age Recycling Annual (p. 27), Craig Jolley of Zellerbach speaks his mind on the success of the recycling t. He says that no mill has yet produced a post-consumer coated sheet that is comparable in quality and brightness to a virgin coated sheet. The public, he says, talks a lot about recycling, but this interest is not reflected in sales. Recycled printing and writing grades are only about 2% of the total paper industry output. The market is erratic; there is no commonly accepted definition of what constitutes recycled paper; and most U.S. individuals, businesses and communities do not participate in mandatory or voluntary recycling programs, especially for high-quality printing and writing papers. All this has put limits on commitments by the producer.