|
Clear, strong definitions are essential to be sure you get the
environmental characteristics that you expect. Define the terms
you use in bids and contracts and in phone quotes.
You also need to know what others mean by the terms they use. If
you're not sure, ask them to give you examples of materials or processes
that qualify under their definitions. Distributors may not know
the specific types of recycled content in a paper, may not be clear
on chlorine free definitions, or may be under misconceptions themselves.
To be certain, go to the manufacturer and, if necessary, have it
written on company letterhead.
The meanings of some terms, such as "postconsumer," have
become generally agreed upon even when not everyone agrees to use
them. Other concepts, such as "processed chlorine free,"
may mean different things to different people. They may sometimes
include materials or processes you didn't intend.
Beware of "phony" environmental definitions. For example, industry
has heavily influenced the ASTM and International Standardization
Organization (ISO) processes, sometimes resulting in proposals that
undermine postconsumer content. We urge you, when specifying recycled
paper, to use only definitions that include strong postconsumer
fiber content requirements.
Although Conservatree and other organizations urged the FTC to
define "chlorine-free" in its labeling guidelines, it declined to
do so in its mid-1990s revisions. However, it did clarify that products
bleached with a process such as a chlorine compound (e.g. chlorine
dioxide) that releases into the environment a significant, even
though reduced, amount of the harmful byproducts associated with
chlorine bleaching cannot be labeled "chlorine-free." The FTC recognized
that such a claim is likely to be interpreted by consumers to mean
that the product's manufacture causes none of the environmental
risks associated with chlorine bleaching. However, it did allow
in such a situation a labeling claim that the product "substantially
reduces" the harm associated with chlorine bleaching.
We recommend that you skip all the qualifications and just buy
paper that is truly chlorine-free.
Following are definitions that we recommend, along with tips about
using them. Numbers in parentheses refer to other defined terms.
|
RECYCLED PAPER DEFINITIONS
|
|
#
|
TERM
|
|
|
1
|
RECYCLED PAPER |
A paper product containing those percentages
of postconsumer material (2) and/or recycled fiber (12) categories
required by specifications and so labelled.
Currently, there is no agreement on what the term "recycled
paper" means, beyond the fact that it contains recovered fiber
(which may be preconsumer and/or postconsumer). You should
establish strong postconsumer standards in your specifications
and ensure that suppliers meet those standards. You must also
question what others mean by "recycled paper" unless the postconsumer
content is clearly labeled.
|
|
2
|
POSTCONSUMER MATERIAL |
Those end products (3) generated by
consumers (4) that have been separated or diverted from the
solid waste stream.
The critical words here are "end products" and
"consumers." Products, scraps and materials still
in the production or value-added process do not qualify. Examples
that do qualify include office wastepaper, junkmail and magazines
from people's homes, undeliverable mail at the Postal Service's
dead-letter office, office wastepaper, and shipping packaging
from delivered products.
|
|
3
|
END PRODUCT |
An item having
completed the manufacturing or converting process and distributed
or sold to a consumer (4) for other than resale or manufacture
of other goods. |
|
4
|
CONSUMER |
Any
person, government agency or other entity which uses goods for
its own needs, and not for resale or for manufacture of other
goods. |
|
5
|
RECOVERED MATERIAL |
Paper materials, excluding mill broke
(6), that have been separated, diverted, or removed from the
solid waste stream for the purpose of use, reuse or recycling.
This term refers to the universe of materials that count
as recycled content, both preconsumer and postconsumer. It
is consistent with EPA's definition, which includes all materials
produced after the initial papermaking process. Despite allowing
inclusion of large amounts of scraps that may never have left
the mill, it is consistent with the practical reality of how
mills make their paper. However, the American Forest &
Paper Assn. includes mill broke (6) in their statistics on
recovered materials
|
|
6
|
MILL BROKE |
Any paper or paperboard scrap generated
in a mill prior to completion of the manufacturing process
(8) which is unsuitable for subsequent applications but can
be re-used in the paper manufacturing process.
Mill broke is not counted as recycled or recovered material.
Originally, "mill broke" referred to all the scrap in a mill.
Economic viability ensured that mills reused it in making
new paper. But EPA defines mill broke as being only that portion
of scraps produced in the initial paper manufacturing process
(see 8). The amount of paper scrap in a mill that counts towards
recycled content percentages can be quite large, particularly
if the mill also sheets its paper.
|
|
7
|
PULP SUBSTITUTES |
Fiber derived from recovered material
(5), excluding mill converting scraps (10), which has not
been printed and does not contain inks, coatings, adhesives,
or dyes (excluding whitening or blueing dyes or agents).
Examples: envelope cuttings, tabulating cards, and other
types of post-mill converting wastes.
|
|
8
|
PAPER MANUFACTURING PROCESS |
An operation
which begins with the pulping of fibrous and non-fibrous raw
materials and ends after the first slitter/winder with the cutting
and trimming of the reel into smaller rolls. In an operation
A) in which the finished product is sheeted directly off the
machine, the production of rough sheets constitutes the end
of the process; B) which involves supercalendering, the end
of the process is at the slitter/winder following the supercalender;
and C) which involves off-machine coating, the process ends
at the slitter/winder following the coater or the supercalender
associated with the coater. |
|
9
|
PRECONSUMER MATERIALS |
Recovered materials (5) other than
postconsumer material (2).
Preconsumer materials have not met their intended end-use
by a consumer, and include allowable waste left over from
manufacturing, converting and printing processes. Examples:
mill converting scraps, preconsumer deinking material, pulp
substitutes.
|
|
10
|
MILL CONVERTING SCRAPS |
Any paper generated in a paper mill
after completion of the paper manufacturing process (8), excluding
mill broke, which is unsuitable for subsequent applications
but can be re-used in the paper manufacturing process.
Example: scraps left over from sheeting operations in a mill.
|
|
11
|
DEINKING FIBER |
Fiber derived from recovered material
(5), excluding mill converting scraps (10), which has been
printed and/or contains inks, coatings, adhesives, or dyes
(excluding whitening or blueing dyes or agents).
There is both preconsumer and postconsumer deinking fiber.
Examples of preconsumer: printing scraps and unsold ("over
issue") magazines.
|
|
12
|
RECYCLED FIBER |
Fiber derived
from recovered material (5) which is included in the fiber finish
of an end product (3). |
|
13
|
FOREST RESIDUES |
Fibrous by-products of harvesting,
manufacturing, extractive, or woodcutting processes.
Examples: chips, stumps, branches and sawdust.Although U.S.
federal agencies are required to buy paper that meets postconsumer
standards, EPA and the Federal Executive allow one mill in
Maine to qualify its papers by including 50% sawdust instead
of postconsumer content, despite the fact it's common in virgin
papers. Don't make the same mistake.
|
|
14
|
RENEWABLE |
A term proposed by the paper industry
for virgin paper made from "renewable resources" such as managed
tree plantations. Does not ensure environmentally sound paper. |
|
15
|
SOURCE REDUCTION |
A product or
process that results in a net reduction in the generation of
waste compared to the previous or comparable version, and includes
durable, reusable and remanufactured products; products with
no, or reduced, toxic constituents; and products marketed with
no, or reduced, packaging. |
|
16
|
WASTEPAPER |
An EPA term, including both preconsumer
and postconsumer materials, introduced in the original 1988
recycled paper guidelines. Its use in standards allowed papers
with no postconsumer content, even made with mill scraps only,
to be called "recycled." EPA eliminated standards using wastepaper
percentages in its May 1996 revised paper guidelines, but retained
the term as the underlying basis for its definition of "recovered
fiber." |
|
CHLORINE FREE DEFINITIONS
|
|
#
|
TERM
|
|
|
17
|
PROCESSED CHLORINE FREE (PCF) |
Recycled paper in which the recycled
content is unbleached or bleached without chlorine or chlorine
derivatives. Any virgin material portion of the paper must
be TCF.
This is as good as it gets. Go straight to heaven, do not
pass GO.
|
| 18 |
TOTALLY CHLORINE FREE (TCF) |
Virgin paper that is unbleached or
processed with a sequence that includes no chlorine or chlorine
derivatives.
It is important to create a market for TCF papers to convince
the industry to skip ECF (see below) and go directly to TCF.
|
| 19 |
ELEMENTAL CHLORINE FREE (ECF) |
Virgin paper processed without elemental
chlorine but with a chlorine derivative such as chlorine dioxide.
Although considerably less harmful than using chlorine, ECF
is still considerably worse than TCF. There is also some indication
that ECF processes may release more elemental chlorine than
originally expected. Many mills are switching to ECF as a
way of avoiding the upgrades for TCF. But ECF is only a half-step
on the way to less toxic bleaching. We recommend using postconsumer
content recycled paper over an ECF paper.
|
| 20 |
CHLORINE FREE PRODUCT |
Any product
produced without the use of chlorine chemistries, including
elemental chlorine gas, chlorine compounds and chlorine derivatives. |
| TREE
FREE DEFINITIONS |
|
#
|
TERM
|
|
| 21 |
TREE FREE PRODUCTS |
Products made
from agricultural residue (22) or agricultural fibers (23).
|
| 22 |
AGRICULTURAL RESIDUE |
Usable materials
recovered primarily from annual crops as byproducts of food
and fiber production. |
| 23 |
AGRICULTURAL FIBERS |
Fibers harvested
from non-wood plants that are grown intentionally for tree free
paper or other fiber products. |
| SUSTAINABLE
FORESTRY DEFINITIONS |
|
#
|
TERM
|
|
| 24 |
ANCIENT TIMBER OLD GROWTH FIBER FREE |
Products in
which no content is from old growth forests (25). |
| 25 |
OLD GROWTH FOREST |
Old Growth Forests
have the following characteristics: a) they are largely naturally
regenerated, b) less than 30% of the stand/forest area has been
logged or cleared within the past century, c) they are relatively
undisturbed such that human activities have not significantly
altered native forest structure, composition or function, d)
they are dominated by native tree species, e) they are relatively
unmanaged although they may suffer from a history of fire suppression
or grazing, and f) they are composed of individual or stands
of trees of varying ages, with old growth components constituting
at least half of the stand or forest unit, and having at least
four trees per acre over 150 years of age. |
| SOURCE
REDUCTION DEFINITIONS |
|
#
|
TERM
|
|
| 26 |
SOURCE REDUCTION PRODUCT |
A product that
results in a net reduction in the generation of waste compared
to the previous or alternate version and includes durable, reusable
and remanufactured products; products with no, or reduced, toxic
constituents; and products marketed with no, or reduced, packaging.
|
| 27 |
REUSED PRODUCT |
Any product
designed to be used many times for the same or other purposes
without additional processing except for specific requirements
such as cleaning, painting or minor repairs. |
| 28 |
REMANUFACTURED PRODUCT |
Any product
diverted from the supply of discarded materials by refurbishing
and marketing said product without substantial change to its
original form. |
|
