Printer paper options: B&W, laser…and green

Afunny thing happened on the way to the paperless office. Electronic communications dramatically increased access to an infinite amount of information and facilitated the exchange of all manner of documents and reports. This otherwise positive development had an unintended consequence, however, as consumers have a tendency to print documents, despite the increasingly common salutation that accompanies e-mails and reminds users to “please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.”

These trends help explain why demand for paper has expanded in recent years and contributed to price increases for nearly all grades of paper, except for newsprint. Other factors contributing to the pricing environment include industry consolidation that has reduced production capacity, the price of oil, increased global demand for paper and a weak dollar, which makes importing paper products to the United States a more expensive proposition.

Every channel has its signature consumable product that requires frequent replenishment that retailers use to establish a price image. For resellers of office products, that item is the familiar 10-ream box of 20-pound multipurpose copy paper. For decades, price was the most pressing consideration for consumers, followed by the performance characteristics of the paper as measured by its weight and brightness rating. However, the latest dynamic has retailers competing in a new arena where the objective is to be the greenest.

According to Staples, it is the first national copy and print operation to make Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper consisting of at least 50% post-consumer recycled waste content a standard offering for black-and-white high speed copy and print jobs at its 1,400 copy and print centers. “Staples now offers more FSC-certified paper than any other office supplier, providing both 100% and 50% post-consumer waste recycled content choices for retail, delivery and contract customers, including copy and print projects placed through contract digital production facilities,” the company stated.

“As one of the world’s largest paper retailers, Staples considers it our duty to set the highest environmental standards in our industry,” said Mark Buckley, Staples vp of environmental affairs.

Prior to Staples’ announcement last month, Office Depot last summer claimed a leadership position when it added the FSC-certified EarthChoice brand by Domtar to its product lineup. “Office Depot supports a number of major third-party forest certification programs,” Yalmaz Siddiqui, environmental strategy advisor for Office Depot, said at the time. “By adding FSC-certified office paper to our assortment of environmentally-preferable products, we reinforce our vision to increasingly buy green, be green and sell green.”

OfficeMax has also touted its green credentials as it did last December when it published its first corporate social responsibility report. In it, the company claimed it was the first to nationally distribute 100% post-consumer copy paper in 2002.