The Abbey Publications office sent out 58 survey forms to paper mills and companies December 9, as the first step in compiling a list of permanent papers made in North America. "Permanent paper" is defined for the purpose of this survey as paper that meets the requirements of the revised American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives, also known as Z39.48-1992.
The survey form asks respondents to indicate which papers contain recycled fiber, using the two definitions in President Clinton's executive order of October 20, the more inclusive "recovered materials" (which, unlike the EPA definition, does not include damaged and unsalable paper that never leaves the mill) and "post-consumer materials." This will be a guide to government agency officials who are obliged to buy recycled paper but who do not know how to specify both recycled content and permanence. The survey results will also help to answer the more general question of whether paper can be both recycled and permanent, though this question can never be answered once and for all, because of inevitable changes in recycled papermaking practices and definitions of permanence.
The list will include only "mill brands," papers sold under the name of the mill or company. Some mill brands have to be excluded because they are made only for a single large customer, which uses it all, so it never sees the marketplace. Private brands are excluded. These are papers made to order for a store or retailer to be sold under the store's name. Because the contract may be given to one mill this month and another mill next month, there is no guarantee that such private brands will consistently meet the standard. The list will exclude mill brands that may be similarly shifted around in production from one mill to another within the same company, unless all those mills are alkaline. It will also exclude papers that were not made to meet the standard until recently, because the older stock will not have been displaced yet in sales outlets and warehouses.
The criteria for inclusion are much stricter than they were for the first Abbey survey of permanent paper in 1991, because it is important for this list to be ultra-reliable. All papers listed will be within the scope of the ANSI standard and meet its specifications. Recycled fiber percentages for each qualifying paper will be given.
Funds will be sought for testing a random sample of the papers for conformity.
Some of the 58 questionnaires went to a single respondent for the whole company, while others went to subsidiaries or divisions within the company. The companies contacted were: Badger, Beckett, Boise Cascade, Canadian Pacific Forest Products, Champion, Consolidated, Crane, Cross Pointe, Domtar, Eastern, Ecusta, Eddy, Esleek, Finch Pruyn, Fletcher, Fox River, Fraser, French, Georgia-Pacific, Gilbert, Glatfelter, Hammermill, Howard, International, Island, James River, Lincoln, Mead, Merrimac, Miramichi, Mohawk, Monadnock, Noranda, Parsons, Penntech, Potlatch, Potsdam, Provincial Papers, Repap, Rising, Riverside, Rolland, Simpson, Stora Papyrus, Strathmore, Union Camp, Ward, Warren, Wausau, Byron Weston, Westvaco, Weyerhaeuser and Weyerhaeuser Canada. Survey forms can be sent on request to any companies that may have been missed.
An ad hoc classification of types of paper covered by the ANSI standard was compiled, and a separate form was inclosed for each major category, with instructions to identify each entry by number. These category numbers will enable us to list similar papers together by use or purpose, as a service to the consumer.
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