The Greening of the Publishing Industry

New versus recycled. Petroleum- versus water-based. In the world of paper and printing, these distinctions go a long way toward defining just how a publisher and printer produce their products. And while most proponents of environmental welfare believe that producers of all goods share a responsibility to minimize damage, the pulp, printing and publishing industries have been long-time menaces. Educated by stalwart industry associations and governmental agencies, more users and vendors of publication paper are adapting enviro-friendly practices.Years ahead of this awareness in the U.S., The Canadian Magazine Publishers Association (www.cmpa.ca) advocated recycling. When the group first issued a report more than 10 years ago about environmental concerns facing print publishers, an active approach was immediately embraced to remedy how to properly dispose of and lessen chemical use within the printing process, as well as modernizing pulp harvesting by decreasing toxic by-products. Several years later, the U.S.-based Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) charted several studies about printing and publishing, in which it divided the paper and publishing industry into several main problematic categories: newspapers, magazines, books and catalogs. The EPA (www.epa.gov) also considered platemaking, bookbinding and associated services liable for environmental standardization of production and waste removal. According to EPA reports, "Printing and publishing is the largest conglomeration of small business in the domestic manufacturing sector." Because the industry has a history of using materials that affect air, water and land adversely, the EPA poised to do battle with all such users of chemicals within the U.S. global manufacturing sector. "Certain chemicals involved in printing volatilize, contributing to air emissions from the facility and smog formation," notes the EPA. "Other chemicals may be discharged to drains and impact fresh water or marine ecosystems; and solid wastes contribute to the existing local and regional disposal problems."Championing the causeThe EPA proposes that the best way to remedy land, water and air pollution is to prevent it. Last year, the EPA and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced plans for the removal of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminates in a 39-mile section of the lower Fox river. Approximately 65,000 pounds of PCB sediment currently contaminates the silt of the river, which is a water source to the highest concentration of paper mills in the U.S. The PCBs were dumped in the river from 1954 to 1971 as by-products of carbonless paper production. Seven paper companies (collectively known as the Fox River Group) are being held responsible for the contamination. They are Appleton Papers, NCR, Fort James (now Georgia-Pacific), Glatfelter, Riverside Paper, Wisconsin Tissue Mills (now WTM1), and U.S. Paper Mills. Georgia-Pacific, which assumed responsibility for the Fort James spillage, along with Appleton Papers, allocated money to the NDR and EPA to start the cleanup. The funds were used for "sample dredging" to test certain techniques and for the purchase of land bordering the riverbanks. But according to the IPA (www.indypress.org), "For those on the progressive front, the problem has always been financial in nature. Ask any environmentalist publisher and this has been an especially thorny dilemma for them and they'll tell you: There simply is no such thing as an affordable tree-friendly paper that is also attractive enough to sell from the newsstand." But that was then.A new report by the IPA, "Pulp Non-Fiction: How Progressive Publishers Damage the Environment and What We Can Do About It," was also released with two simple goals: To demystify the myth that environment-friendly paper is poor, and to introduce the world to the IPA PAPER Co-operative that guarantees savings on new tree-friendly, toxin-free paper for IPA members. What's in a paper name?Publishers and vendors have both introduced digital printing alternatives and synthetic and recycled papers over the last few years, which often output less toxins than traditional film-processed products. For instance, Georgia-Pacific's (www.gp.com) Eureka! papers offer an ecological alternative for what the company bills as "economical price points." And Eastern Pulp & Paper (www.easternpaper.com) claims it generates significant, well-documented environmental advances at reduced operating costs from a custom-developed oxygen bleaching process at its manufacturing facility. In fact, Angus King, governor of Maine, recently presented the New England-based company with an environmental excellence award for its accomplishments in pollution prevention."Independent laboratory test results document that we are now among the cleanest pulp and papermakers in the U.S.," reveals Joseph H. Torras, Sr., chairman and CEO of Eastern Pulp & Paper. "We're grateful for today's recognition by Governor King, which supports the idea that environmental progress and good manufacturing jobs go hand-in-hand." He further explains that the oxygen bleaching technology, envir02, allows the mill to move well below stringent EPA limits, and in some categories, as much as 10 times lower than EPA standards. Movers and shakersMany industry leaders are also members of the Recycled Paper Coalition (www.papercoalition.org), including Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, R.R. Donnelley & Sons and Willamette Industries. Similarly, technology companies, such as Presstek, AGFA and Heidelberg USA, provide printing systems that reduce dangerous by-products using waterless technologies. The Printing Subcommittee, which sponsors an education project aimed at more pollution prevention, works with the EPA and cooperative publishers, reporting, "The goal of the project is to inform local printers about pollution prevention measures and build community understanding of pollution prevention techniques in local printing businesses." The project's debut publication, The Environmental Compliance and Pollution Prevention Technical Assistance Directory for Printers in New York City, outlines services and partnerships throughout the metropolitan area. Ongoing meetings and government assistance enhances the group's efforts at the grass root level.The subcommittee's Multi-Media Flexibility Permit Project also outlines emission reduction procedures, operational flexibility and transactional cost reduction for printers and publishers. Under the system, printers applying for permits need to comply with government regulations before operations begin. Massachusett's and Minnesota's permit systems are currently being used as models for other state standardization programs. In conjunction with the system, a Flexible Permitting Handbook is also available, describing environmental protection goals, printing processes and steps towards initiating better work practices from pulp manufacturing through printing. Pulp facts and fictionGreenpeace (www.greenpeace.org) has also had a hand in pulp advocacy, alleging that for every five trees planted for each one harvested for paper, four saplings often die before maturing. In response, a forest certification program has been developed to ensure paper buyers that forests used to harvest pulp are sustainably managed. The EPA and other agencies encourage print buyers to know how paper is harvested, made and sold before buying. Because recycling is often a loose term, products can achieve stamps of approval with as little as 10 percent post-consumable material within end products. A few paper leaders have confronted foresting head on, however. Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (www.tappi.org) developed "Forests For Our Future," a walk-through, hands-on indoor forest experience designed to educate industry and non-technical users about how the paper industry is dedicated to preserving natural wilderness. Last year, Potlatch's 17,000-acre hybrid poplar plantation in Boardman, OR, became the first such operation in North America to be independently certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an international, independent, non-profit organization that promotes responsible forestry worldwide. Potlatch's pursuit of FSC certification reflects the fact that segments of the U.S. market have demonstrated a willingness to pay a premium for FSC certified products. Meanwhile, Weyerhaeuser (www.weyerhaeuser.com) was awarded "Business Recycler of the Year" for 2001 by the Tennessee Recycling Coalition. Nominated by Federal Express, the award is given annually to the company that best demonstrates a strong commitment to waste prevention and recycling. Mark Starnes, vice president of Weyerhaeuser's recycling business unit, says, "Our company is the nation's third-largest paper recycler and the largest user of recycled materials in our paper and packaging products. More than 57 percent of the content of Weyerhaeuser containerboard products comes from recycled materials. In 2000, we recycled more than 4.4 million tons of paper. That's enough to fill a freight train that stretches from Memphis to New York City."The company acknowledges that not only do responsible publishing and paper-making practices benefit the users and vendors of print materials, but also other arms of the business. For a distributor, being able to successfully convert waste material into reusable stock can amount to saving money. The effects trickle down into two forms of green: the financial and environmental."Weyerhaeuser has gone to great lengths to help us efficiently recycle materials that can be reused for valuable products like our shipping boxes, company stationary and company forms," adds Karen Birkinstock, senior environmental specialist for Federal Express. "Recycling is important to Federal Express because we care about our environment. Weyerhaeuser has helped us sort through the issues and put together an effective recycling program which helps the environment and saves Federal Express money, too." -Natalie Hope McDonald"Certain chemicals involved in printing volatilize, contributing to air emissions from the facility and smog formation," notes the EPA. "Other chemicals may be discharged to drains and impact fresh water or marine ecosystems; and solid wastes contribute to the existing local and regional disposal problems."and this on page 34:"For those on the progressive front, the problem has always been financial in nature. Ask any environmentalist publisher and this has been an especially thorny dilemma for them and they'll tell you: There simply is no such thing as an affordable tree-friendly paper that is also attractive," writes the IPA.

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