Recycled Paper
Printing For A Sustainable Future
Environment
OKI is dedicated to the preservation of the environment through the
development of eco products and social contribution activities. Our
progressive thinking has established us as a corporate leader in
environmental conservation. Global environmental protection is a
senior management priority.
Recycled Paper
We design and manufacture our printers to minimise their
carbon footprint as much as possible, and one such way is
by ensuring our printers fully support recycled paper.
Based on the use of high grade office waste converted back into office paper, about 66% of the
recovered paper can be used in the recycling
process.
During the manufacturing process,
recycled paper uses less energy and creates fewer emissions than virgin paper.
Like non-recycled paper (otherwise known
as virgin paper), the quality and cost of
recycled paper can and does vary
considerably between manufacturers.
This document will provide you with
information to allow you to choose a
suitable recycled paper for your
general printing needs – this will
help you achieve the best Print
Quality while minimising the
environmental impact.
This document will also
give you a brief insight
to the paper recycling
process as well as
familiarise you with
some common
terms used when
referencing
recycled
paper.
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Quality Of Recycled Paper
The quality of recycled paper can vary considerably from manufacturer to
manufacturer; this means that the overall performance of the paper in
terms of paper feeding and print quality can also vary.
When purchasing recycled media for use with Oki products we recommend that you consider the following:
A paper that is manufactured to DIN 12281:2002 - This standard
ensures that the paper meets minimum requirements in terms
of curl, cutting quality, opacity, toner adhesion, packaging &
debris. The manufacturers website will generally indicate if
the paper has been manufactured to this standard, or if not,
such information can be obtained from the supplier.
A paper that is approved by a scheme which verifies
that it is made from recycled material. A number of
schemes are in existence including:
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) - This certifies
that paper manufacturing has met certain
guidelines set by the FSC, in particular the
traceability of recycled fibres. Look for the
FSC recycled logo on the paper packaging.
Programme for the Endorsement of
Forest Certification (PEFC) - This also
certifies that paper manufacturing
has met certain guidelines set by
PEFC, in particular the traceability
of recycled fibres. Look for the
PEFC recycled logo on the
paper packaging.
National Association of
Paper Merchants (NAPM)
Recycled Mark - This
shows that the paper is
made of a 50, 75 or
100% recycled fibre.
Look for the NAPM
Recycled Mark on
the paper packaging, or ask
your supplier
whether the
paper
carries
this
mark.
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Quality of Recycled Paper (cont’d)
A paper that is certified by Blue Angel – Blue Angel is an independent certification
that is awarded to energy efficient and environmentally friendly products. Blue
Angel certified paper may be difficult to source outside of Germany; it is however becoming more common throughout Europe.
A paper which is certified to the EU Ecolabel. This is a scheme administered by the European Parliament, which is awarded to products meeting
ecological criteria including fibre source, air and water emissions,
energy use, use of hazardous chemicals and waste management. As
this scheme also endorses the use of forest certified virgin fibres,
you may need to check for recycled content.
There are other factors that affect the end result which are more
human perceived, these should also be considered:
Paper whiteness – recycled paper can vary from a dull grey
to brilliant white depending predominantly on the quality of
recovered paper used and the addition of Optical Brightening Agents (OBAs) during paper manufacture. Dull
grey papers may be acceptable for some general office
printing such as emails and draft documents however
when printing colour documents it generally stands
that the whiter the paper the better the overall
print quality.
Paper Opacity – This is to understand how
non-transparent the paper is; the more
transparent the paper, the more printed
text will show through. Oki recommend
opacity to be greater than 85% for general use and greater than 90% for
duplex printing.
Smoothness – Generally print
quality is better on smoother
paper. Rough paper can cause
printer toner particles to
become hidden which can
result in the printed output
appearing grainy and
broken.
Before settling on a specific
brand of recycled paper it is
very important to first of
all run several sheets
through the printer to
ensure you are happy
with the results;
print a variety of
files that you
would consider
typical to your
printing
habits.
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The Paper Recycling Process
At recycling centres, paper that has been selected as suitable for recycling can
be packaged into bales or supplied in loose form. From the recycling centres
the paper is transported to a paper mill where the process of breaking it
down and transforming it back into reusable paper starts in earnest.
The first part of the process is known as re-pulping and screening.
During this initial phase the used paper is pushed into a big vat containing hot water and other chemicals where the paper is broken
down into actual fibres. This mushy mixture is referred to as pulp.
The pulp is then forced through screens which are sieves with
varying hole and/or slot sizes to allow small contaminants to
be filtered out by their size and shape.
The next part of the process is known as de-inking or pulp
laundering. Generally this is a 2 stage process where
small particles of ink can be removed by first of all
washing the pulp. Next comes Flotation where larger
particles of ink are removed by pumping air through
pulp which has been mixed with detergent like
chemicals.
The pulp is then mechanically treated to break
down in size any remaining ink particles or
other contaminants. At this point dyes in the
pulp from coloured paper can also be chemically removed. If white paper is being
produced the pulp needs to be bleached
using hydrogen peroxide, chlorine dioxide, or oxygen which makes it whiter
and brighter.
At this stage the pulp is now clean
and can be used on its own or
mixed with wood fibre known as
virgin fibre, if part recycled
products are being made.
If virgin fibre is added the
paper will be graded by
the amount of recycled
fibre used. The
amount of recycled
fibre used is typically displayed as
a percentage on
the paper packaging.
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Paper Terminology
Virgin Pulp
Pulp produced directly from
tree’s.
Virgin Paper
Paper produced from Virgin Pulp.
Recycled Pulp
Pulp produced from recovered
paper.
Recycled Paper
Paper produced from Recycled
Pulp.
DIN 12281:2002 A European standard that defines
requirements for paper that is
used for dry toner imaging.
FSC
PEFC
The Forest Stewardship Council
is an international non-profit
organisation that sets rules for
forestry management and gives
certification to forest operators
that meet it’s standards. The FSC
also provide an FSC Recycled
Certification to recycled papers
that meet it’s standards.
Brightness
Brightness is a measure of the
amount of light the surface a
sheet of paper reflects. The more
light reflected, the higher the
value of brightness.
Whiteness
Whiteness is a measure of the
light reflectance of the paper
surface across the entire visible
spectrum. It is a close match to
the viewer’s perception of how
white a sheet of paper is.
Smoothness
This measurement refers to how
smooth the surface of a sheet of
paper is. Bendsten roughness is
the most common method used
which measures air leakage,
with the higher the number
obtained, the greater the
roughness of the sheet. Bekk
smoothness can also be used
where air is drawn across the
surface of a test piece under a
partial vacuum.
Cutting Quality
Paper that has been cut down to
size using sharp and precise
tooling will result in less uneven
edges, paper dust and paper
debris which may contaminate
the reams and in turn
contaminate the printer paper
path. This contamination can
result in paper jams,
deterioration in print quality and
in some extreme cases, machine
breakdown.
Blue Angel
The Blue Angel (Blauer Engel)
is a German certification for
products and services that have
environmentally friendly aspects
that meet a strict criteria. For
recycled paper please reference
RAL-UZ-14.
EU EcoLabel
A European certificate for products meeting a strict environmental criteria. Products containing both recycled and forest
certified virgin fibre are eligible
for labelling.
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The Programme for the
Endorsement of Forest
Certification is an international
non-profit organisation that sets
rules for forestry management
and gives certification to forest
operators that meet it’s
standards. The PEFC also provide
an PEFC Recycled Certification
to recycled papers that meet it’s
standards.
Paper Terminology (cont’d)
Toner adhesion Toner adhesion refers to how the
toner has fused to the surface of
the paper. Toner that has not
fused well will flake or rub off
over time.
Opacity
A measure of how opaque (nontransparent) a sheet of paper is
and is measured as a percentage
of light reflectance. The higher
the value the “more opaque” the
paper.
ECF
Elemental Chlorine Free virgin
pulps produced without the use
of elemental chlorine. Chlorine
dioxide is used to bleach the
fibres.
TCF
Totally Chlorine Free virgin pulps
produced without the use of
elemental chlorine or any chlorine
based compounds. Oxygen,
hydrogen peroxide and ozone are
used to bleach the fibres.
PCF
Process Chlorine Free recycled
pulps produced without the use
of elemental chlorine or chlorine
based compounds.
Carbon
Footprint
A carbon footprint is a measure
of the impact a product, service
or activity has on the environment, and in particular climate
change.
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Oki Europe Limited
Blays House
Wick Road
Egham
Surrey, TW20 0HJ
United Kingdom
Tel:
+44 (0) 208 219 2190
Fax:
+44 (0) 208 219 2199
www.okiprintingsolutions.com