Dorrance Writer's Advocate: Bookmaking

R E C Y C L E D P A P E R I N T H E P U B L I S H I N G I N D U S T R Y

As more and more citizens have become concerned with the environment, particularly the deterioration of natural resources and the overflowing of landfills, members of the publishing industry have helped to lead an environmental trend by rethinking their policies in terms of the types of paper and inks they consume. In response to this growing concern among publishers and the public in general, paper companies have now begun massive initiatives in paper recycling and the production of high-grade printing paper from recycled paper fibers. The results so far have been impressive, laudable, and even profitable in some limited trials by the paper manufacturers and the publishing industry, but several important obstacles remain before paper recycling can progress to the point where its use is regarded as the norm rather than a noteworthy exception in the publishing industry.

Technological advancements have allowed for the paper recycling process, once an expensive and painstakingly exhausting task, to become remarkably efficient and affordable. De-inking, the single most important step in the process, has progressed to the point where the recycled paper is entirely devoid of the flecks and specks which have branded paper as recycled in the past and today even allows for the recycling of the coated papers found in magazines. Paper recycling even now affords an environmental bonus in the de-inking process, requiring as little as 10 percent less of the toxic bleaches used in the bleaching of normal wood fibers, yet even in spite of all these commendable advancements in technology, concerns still abound among environmentalists.

When producing recycled paper, recycled fibers can be used alone or with wood fibers. The amount of recycled fiber used depends upon the type of paper desired. The Environmental Protection Agency has recommended that paper contain at least 50 percent wastepaper in order to be marketed under the name "recycled," yet there are currently no actual laws on the books to enforce the amount of recycled fiber which must be used in order to term a paper product "recycled."

There are also no laws on record concerning the use of the triangular, three-arrowed recycling symbol. In consequence some manufacturers have been labeling paper products which in fact contain little or no recycled content with the "recycled" symbol in order to mislead environmentally conscious consumers into paying higher prices for what they may believe is paper with a high content of recycled fibers. If an individual or company makes the choice to print on recycled paper, it is an important first step to investigate exactly how much of the paper actually was produced from post-consumer products. If the product doesn't state the percentage on the product itself or on literature provided about the product, contact the company and ask what percentage of post-consumer waste the product contains.

The troubling situation regarding the lack of enforcement of the term "recycled" on paper products need not overshadow the ample good news concerning paper recycling, which has walked hand-in-hand with the recent leaps in technology. Not only has recycled paper lost its trademark flecks and specks, but it is now available in different weights and recycled contents, coated or uncoated. While the "perfect" recycled paper desired may not be available just yet, paper producers are coming out with more varieties every day. The environmental benefits of using recycled paper are many. While the number of trees used in each ton of paper varies greatly, every ton of recycled paper saves approximately seventeen to thirty-one trees. Each ton of waste paper recycled saves three cubic yards of landfill space. In addition, producing recycled paper requires a significantly smaller drain on energy resources than producing paper from wood pulp, and according to a 1974 EPA report, production of recycled paper creates considerably less air pollution than the wood pulp process. These factors, combined with the growing popularity of soy-based inks, which also create far less air pollution in their production than traditional petroleum-based inks, are helping to foster an exciting new era in the publishing industry and cultivate the growing and long-overdue concern for our environmental health.

We at Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc. offer both recycled paper and soy ink as options for the author to consider when having his or her book subsidy published. Due to cost considerations, we normally print on an acid-free, wood pulp fiber using a petroleum-based ink, but, by author request, we will used recycled paper and/or soy ink. Since recycled paper remains slightly more expensive than wood pulp paper, the selection of recycled paper and soy ink may add a modest additional cost to the author's fee in the subsidy agreement. We at Dorrance hope, however, that as new technologies are refined, production of recycled paper will allow for still higher quality, greater variety, and less expensive paper products, and we hope one day to see their use become the norm within the publishing industry.

(Picture Perfect)