Asking the Hard Questions
About Recycled Paper

Question: Isn't recycled paper more expensive than
virgin stock?

Answer: No. Because recycled paper is much more available now than it was even a few years ago, the vast majority of today's recycled paper solutions are priced competitively with virgin paper solutions.

Question: Is it true that recycled paper quality isn't as
good as virgin paper?

Answer: No. Thanks in part to rapid advances in papermaking technologies and increasing recycling
efforts worldwide, the quality of today's recycled paper is
in many cases indistinguishable from that of virgin paper.

Question: Aren't chlorine bleaches used in de-inking harmful to the environment?

Answer: Today's paper mills are moving away from using harmful pure chlorine bleach de-inking processes. Today's elemental chlorine free (ECF) papers are made from pulp de-inked using oxygen and non-polluting chemicals (such as chlorine dioxide) and so are much less environmentally harmful than traditional pure chlorine-based processes.

Question: Is the paper industry helping to create "sustainable forests?"

Answer: The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) defines a sustainably managed forest as an ecosystem that provides a renewable commercial supply of timber from a resource that also supports native wildlife, plant life and trees not meant to be harvested. By maintaining large-scale replanting efforts and subscribing to FSC certification guidelines, the paper industry is playing a crucial role in promoting responsible forestry.