The Debate: Using Recycled Paper in Catalogs

Enough wood to make a 6-foot fence stretching across the United States seven times, or to make copy paper for 18.2 million people. That’s how much the entire catalog industry could save if it used paper composed of just 10-percent postconsumer recycled content, according to experts.

A study by the Alliance for Environmental Innovation (the Alliance), a project of Environmental Defense, a nonprofit organization, revealed that despite such potential environmental savings, most catalogers instead print their pages on virgin (non-recycled) paper.

Several industry experts largely attribute catalogers’ resistance to using recycled paper to concern about cost and possible decrease in sales. “It’s not that [companies] don’t care about the environment, but if something doesn’t pay for itself, you just can’t do it,” says Kathy Johnston, creative services manager at consultancy J. Schmid and Associates.

However, proponents insist that catalogers can use recycled paper without hurting their bottom lines, brands or business overall. Here’s a closer look at some of the issues surrounding the use of recycled paper.

Corporate Responsibility

Advocates trumpet its business advantages, in addition to its ethical ones. For example, catalogers whose products emphasize outdoor products, support for the environment, animal rights, recycled materials and/or organic materials can bolster their brand messages by using recycled paper. Marci Zaroff, president and founder of organic cotton apparel cataloger Under The Canopy, thinks her company’s sales would actually decrease if she didn’t use recycled paper.

But even companies that don’t offer such items can benefit. Customers respond to companies that take social responsibility seriously, especially in this era of corporate scandal and growing consumer advocacy, says Victoria Mills, project manager at the Alliance. For example, a 2002 corporate citizenship study from strategy firm Cone discovered that 91 percent of Americans would consider switching brands if they were to learn of a company’s negative corporate citizenship practices. Eighty-six percent agreed that companies should reveal the ways they support social issues.

Zaroff says the publicity from a pronounced shift to using recycled paper would benefit the catalog industry as a whole: “I think consumers are really turned off by the amount of catalogs they get and how much paper that’s wasting. From a marketing standpoint, [using recycled paper is] good for everybody.”

Myths and Realities

Some of the common arguments against using recycled paper (e.g., extra cost, less availability) may not necessarily be accurate.

Myth: Recycled paper is more expensive than virgin.
Reality: A study of paper vendors done by the Alliance in 2001 found that 16 North American paper suppliers offered recycled-content coated Web paper (in grades one through five) either at price parity with virgin or at a premium subject to negotiation.

Some catalogers and vendors acknowledge there’s a slight difference between prices of virgin and recycled paper. But they say catalogers may be able to negotiate the price of recycled paper down to the same level as virgin paper. Mills says the negotiations may depend on a paper vendor’s current supply of recycled stock.

Myth: Not enough paper vendors offer recycled paper.
Reality: According to the Alliance, 17 of North America’s top 20 paper suppliers offer options containing at least 10-percent postconsumer recycled content. And the organization’s Recycled Paper Capacity Study, released in October 2001, found most mills providing deinked pulp (the component that gives paper its “postconsumer” title) are operating at less-than-full capacity. On average, a deinking mill operates at 73-percent capacity.

Anecdotally, representatives from three catalog companies using recycled paper—Gaiam, Norm Thompson and Under The Canopy—said they found more than enough vendor options from which to choose.

Myth: Deinking causes its own pollution problems.
Reality: The process of deinking repulps (which turns paper from sheets into its original components of water and cellulose fibers), separates and removes ink and other contaminants from paper recovered through community recycling programs. A common argument claims that deinking yields toxic sludge that must be disposed of at hazardous waste sites.

Kim Hoffman, account manager at San Francisco-based recycled-paper provider New Leaf Paper, says this argument, though a favorite of recycled-paper opponents, is disingenuous. “Without using [recycled paper], that ink will go back into the paper, which would go back in the landfill,” she says. “It’s the difference between a one-way system and a closed-loop system.”

Mills concurs, adding that on a life-cycle basis, recycled-paper production and recycling generates far less pollution and solid waste than virgin-paper production and disposal.

Myth: Paper mills’ aggressive replanting procedures often replace four trees for every one cut down, so choosing recycled paper doesn’t reduce the number of trees on the planet.
Reality: While this may be true, Mills says replanting trees is not the same as preserving natural forests, which is the real issue.

For example, in the U.S. South (where most trees used to make paper originate), the area of natural pine forests decreased by 52 percent from 1953 to 1999. Meanwhile, pine plantations increased 39.3 percent during the same period. Though pine plantations yield ample amounts of wood, they’re not well-suited to provide wildlife habitat or preserve biodiversity.

Recycling paper extends the overall fiber supply and reduces the pressure to turn forests into tree farms. Additionally, it reduces pressure to destroy other, more endangered forests to meet paper industry demand, says Hoffman.

Myth: Recycled paper yields poor ink retention and color reproduction.
Reality: This idea surmises that because the ink retention in recycled paper doesn’t match that of a virgin free sheet, catalogers may struggle to replicate product colors in print, which may lead to merchandise returns.

But in nine test mailings done during a year’s time, multi-title mailer Norm Thompson showed only one variance between recycled and virgin paper—and it favored the recycled book!

Similarly, multi-title mailer Gaiam and apparel cataloger Under The Canopy—both of which use paper containing at least 10-percent postconsumer waste—report no customer complaints about color misrepresentation.

Conclusion

Though they appear to be in the minority right now, most recycled-paper advocates believe industry demand for this product will only grow in the future as more consumers request companies use it.

“Concern is growing, especially among the younger generation,” says Hoffman. “The big question is whether catalogers will wait until consumers demand it, or if they’ll act now.”

Definitions

Paper labeled “recycled” may contain a combination of virgin, preconsumer and postconsumer fiber.

Preconsumer material is collected as trims and scraps left over from paper manufacturing. It never serves its intended end use (e.g., catalogs, office memos), and is never in danger of going to a landfill; it simply goes back into the mill’s pulp supply.

Paper containing postconsumer recycled content refers to paper that served its intended end use prior to being collected through community-recycling programs. This paper would be disposed of in landfills or incinerators if it weren’t recycled. When most advocates urge catalogers to use recycled paper, they’re referring to paper comprised of at least 10-percent postconsumer content.

This distinction is crucial, says Victoria Mills, project manager at the Alliance for Environmental Innovation. Unless the purchaser specifically requests it, postconsumer material usually is left out of paper orders. — G.M.

Guidelines

Catalogers wanting to give recycled paper a second look should keep the following guidelines in mind:

1. Look into niche paper suppliers such as Domtar or New Leaf Paper, both of which sell only recycled paper. Or talk to your current paper supplier about recycled options and their availability. Specify that you’re asking about paper containing postconsumer materials. A fundamental misunderstanding in terminology can lead to problems when ordering.

2. Test recycled paper in various stages—just as you would any new creative initiative. Try incorporating a small amount, say, 10 percent of postconsumer content in one of your mailings. “It doesn’t have to be an all-or-none decision,” says Marci Zaroff, president/founder of organic cotton apparel cataloger Under The Canopy, which uses recycled paper. “If [catalogers] just switch to using some recycled content in their books, that’s a great start.”

3. Tap into the expertise of environmental groups such as the following as your primary sources for qualified information.

- Alliance for Environmental Innovation, www.environmentaldefense.org /alliance/. Or e-mail Victoria Mills, project manager, at: vmills@environmentaldefense.org

- Recycled Products Purchasing Cooperative, www.recycledproducts.org

- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WasteWi$e program, www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/reduce/wstewise/

4. Consult with other catalogers who’ve switched to recycled paper. They include the following:

Norm Thompson

(Titles: Norm Thompson, Early Winters, Solutions, Waterfront Living)

Merchandise type: Apparel and home goods

Number of catalogs mailed per year: About 80 million

Postconsumer content used: From 10 percent to 60 percent

Contact: Derek Smith, chief sustainability officer, dsmith@nortom.com

Under The Canopy

Merchandise type: Apparel and bath

accessories made from organic fibers

Number of catalogs mailed per year: 1 million in 2002

Postconsumer content used: Currently 10 percent, with plans to increase

Contact: Marci Zaroff, president and founder, marci@underthecanopy.com.

Gaiam

(Titles: Harmony, Living Arts, Real Goods, SelfCare)

Merchandise type: Apparel, home goods, accessories, gifts, health aids

Number of catalogs mailed per year: 15 million

Postconsumer content used: Mostly 20 percent

Contact: Bill Giebler, director of product development, bill.giebler@gaiam.com

POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Why don’t more catalogers use recycled paper?

Jerry Cerasale, senior vice president of government affairs, The Direct Marketing Association

My response is based not on a strict study of our membership, but conversations with our members. If the [recycled-paper] supply got larger, the price would drop.

For most of the members with whom we talked, the price of recycled stock is greater than the price of virgin paper. Some of our members have been able to negotiate with certain vendors in certain areas. But with members having such tight margins, just that little bit is enough for them to make the economic decision to not use recycled paper.

From what we can gather in discussions with catalog members, generally the problems that were there five years ago with recycled paper aren’t there anymore. We’ve come a long way in five years, and the remaining issue is price.

It may be that the price is higher because there’s not enough demand. I think in time it’s going to change. There already are laws in some states in which they’re forcing localities (through the pricing of trash collection) to recycle. That may help produce more product, reduce prices and make it more economically feasible. We at The DMA think that’s going to happen. I think concerns on the landfill side will push more product into it.

We actually think there’s going to be more use of recycled paper [in cataloging]. It’s a means of shopping that uses a significant amount of paper, yet it also reduces the amount of auto traffic and malls built, and I think all of our members are very much aware of this. A goal for them would be to use recycled paper. It just needs to fit the economic equation, and for some of our members it doesn’t right now.

A final point is that for those catalogs that use recycled paper, some are starting to employ that as a marketing tool. If customers start shopping from certain catalogs because they use recycled paper, that’ll change things, too.

Victoria Mills, project manager, Alliance for Environmental Innovation

The Direct Marketing Association has stated in the past that ‘an adequate supply of recycled paper is simply not available.’ This is not true. Almost all major suppliers offer sheets with 10-percent postconsumer recycled content or higher. Catalog companies usually have a choice of suppliers that can match their specifications in a recycled sheet.

And there’s plenty of supply; there’s significant overcapacity to produce deinked pulp, the key ingredient in recycled paper. In our capacity study last year, we found that North American deinked pulp producers were operating at an average rate of 73 percent. Almost all said they could easily expand their production to meet an increase in demand for recycled paper, and did not believe that sourcing the additional wastepaper would be a problem.

We also disagree with The DMA’s statement that the use of recycled paper is not cost-effective at this time. Contrary to popular belief, recycled paper is not always more expensive than virgin paper. It depends on the grade, the supplier, tonnage and other factors. Prices for recycled paper are negotiated, just like prices for virgin paper. It’s somewhat easier to find a price parity in coated freesheet than lightweight coated and supercalendered grades; however even there it’s not impossible.

The DMA’s statement implies that catalogers should wait for recycled-paper costs to come down before they switch. While it’s true that in some cases recycled paper costs more to make than virgin paper, those cost differences are as much a result of the lack of demand as the other way around.

Only strong and steady demand for recycled paper will create the economies of scale that will bring costs down. To set this cycle in motion, catalog companies need to start buying recycled paper now.

“Only strong and steady demand for recycled paper will create the economies of scale that will bring costs down.”

Paul Hawken’s Convictions on Recycled Paper

“The catalog and direct marketing industry has become the postal equivalent of the tragedy of the commons. It sends more and more pieces of mail every year to a relatively stable number of postal customers, members and donors. This overgrazing of the consumer is excessive, wasteful and bothersome. It causes pollution, destruction of trees and forests, waste in our landfills, and the unnecessary uses of energy to transport railcar loads of catalogs and direct-mail solicitations that are thrown away the instant they are received.”

—Paul Hawken, proprietor of the Smith & Hawken catalog, from his 1990 essay “The Tragedy of the Commons”