What is recycled paper?

Wikipedia defines recycled paper as “… the process of recovering waste paper and remaking it into new paper products.”

Recycled paper can be made from three different types of sources:

1. Mill broke (scraps left over from the manufacturing of paper),
2. Pre-Consumer Waste (paper discarded before use by consumer),
3. Post-Consumer Waste (paper discarded after use by consumer).

To be considered recycled, paper must include a certain amount of Post-Consumer Waste (PCW). The required amount varies based on paper type: at least 30% for plain and premium uncoated stocks and 10% for coated and cast coated substrates.

Over the years, recycling processes have improved greatly, making recycled paper a responsible, logical choice. Delivering high-quality results, the end product is typically comparable to that of virgin fiber paper.

At Green Books N Binders, we constantly test new paper products to provide our customers with a selection of recycled or responsibly produced printed material that will provide brightness, smoothness, excellent print quality and durability at a comparable cost to virgin fiber papers and non-recycled material.

Green Your Recycling

Recycling is important and helps ensure a long-lasting, healthy environment for years to come. And we should all do our part to recycle our products, whatever they may be, after we’re done using them. But what about considering recyclability from the top down – before we purchase these items?

Here are 5 things to look for to “green” your recycling:

1. Buy Recycled!

Try to buy products that are already recycled or contain some content of Post Consumer Waste. It’s not as hard as it may seem, many products you already buy (such as Low-Carb binders, cereal boxes or aluminum cans) likely contain some percent of recycled material.

2. Decipher between pre- and post-consumer waste. 

Both are good, but choosing the product with the highest post-consumer waste content best supports recycling efforts and programs.

3. Differentiate Recycled from Recyclable.

A recycled product is made from recycled material; a recyclable product is one that can be recycled at the end of its lifecycle. Purchasing something that is recycled already helps the environment, whereas a recyclable product is only meaningful if you actually intend to recycle it properly.

4. Get the Numbers.

For plastics, check the resin number to ensure they can be thrown in your basic curbside recycling bin before you buy.

5. Evaluate ease of recyclability.

Can all the pieces of the product be recycled together, or will you have to take it apart and recycle the pieces separately? (If you will need to take it apart, make sure it’s something you’re willing to do!)

Keeping these simple tips in mind during your next shopping trip is a great way to help the environment and even “green” your purchases. As you can see it takes little extra effort to do what’s right for the environment – and yourself!