Paper Dictionary

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SUSTAINABLE CERTIFICATIONS
TYPES OF PAPER

Paper Dictionary

Acid Free

Acid-free paper addresses the problem of preserving documents and artwork for long periods. It is made using alkaline paper making technology. This means the pH of the pulp that is used to form the paper is above 7 (neutral). It can be made from any cellulose fiber as long as the active acid pulp is eliminated during processing. Acid-free papers can be used for wrapping or storing jewellery, silver or photographs.

Archival

Archival paper, also acid free, has been made to last a long period of time eg 300+ years. Ideal for the production of special printed materials like books, journals, maps, historial manuscripts, photographs and secondary literature that supports special collections like interpretational signage for museums and library’s.

Carbon Neutral

Carbon neutral paper, also known as carbon balanced or carbon offset, means the paper has been manufactured by a paper mill that has measured their entire carbon footprint from the amount of greenhouse gases (carbon emissions) they produce through the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, manufacturing and transportation and their impact on the environment. The carbon impact has then been balanced, or offset by planting new trees to capture the CO2.

Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF)

Paper that is made without the use of elemental chlorine. In ECF bleaching, chlorine dioxide is usually the main bleaching agent. ECF pulp is produced with a bleaching alternative that serves to reduce harmful by-products. To minimise the environmental impact of the bleaching process the ECF process is usually combined with bleaching stages involving oxygen, hot acid, or ozone.

EMAS

The EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a premium management instrument developed by the European Commission for companies and other organisations to evaluate, report and improve their environmental performance.

EU EcoLabel, EU Flower

The European Ecolabel is a European certification managed by the European Commission with independent and impartial organisations responsible for implementing at national level. The EU Ecolabel guarantees a very low environmental impact in the manufacturing of paper through low air and water emissions, reduced consumption of electricity, improved waste recovery and preventive measures with regards to human health.

FSC Certified – 100%

The FSC 100% label means that the wood within the product comes completely from FSC-certified well-managed forests. Pulp sourced from forests that have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. FSC helps take care of forests and the people and wildlife who call them home. It works to promote responsible forestry, conserve biological diversity and protect old growth forests. This system allows consumers to identify, purchase and use wood, paper and other forest products produced from well-managed forests and/or recycled materials. FSC also includes a ‘Chain Of Custody’ system that tracks paper from the forest, all the way to finished material offering clients complete paper traceability.

FSC Certified – Mix

A FSC mix label means at least 70 per cent of the wood in a product comes from FSC certified or recycled material; while 30 per cent is made of controlled wood.

FSC Certified – Recycled

The recycled label means the wood or paper in a product comes from reclaimed material.

Full Cycle

Full Cycle is the certification for recycled paper products manufactured in a closed-loop process.

ISO 14001 EMS (Environmental Management Systems)

Paper is manufactured by a mill that is accredited with ISO 14001, the international standard for organising and achieving continual improvement in environmental management systems. This standard reviews the total manufacturing process and seeks continuous improvement in aspects such as energy efficiency, waste reduction and pollution control.

ISO 9706 Longlife

Papers displaying this symbol are guaranteed by international standards to last up to 100 years.

Process Chlorine Free (PCF)

Paper made without the use of chlorine in the recycled bleaching process.

PEFC Certified

An independent, non-profit, which promotes sustainably managed forests through independent third party certification. PEFC provides an assurance mechanism to purchasers of wood and paper products that they are promoting the sustainable management of forests. Sustainable forest management creates outcomes that are socially just, ecologically sound and economically viable – the three pillars of sustainability.

Recycled PCW

Recycled paper is manufactured from previously used paper and packaging that is collected and re-pulped to create waste fibre that can be re-manufactured into new paper. There are two types of waste fibres available, Post Consumer Waste Fibre (PCW) and Pre-Consumer Waste Fibre.

PCW is considered the truest form of recycled fibre, as it is manufactured from paper that has been recovered from consumer use. As the original paper has often been printed on, it needs to be de-inked (colour and ink removed using a chemical ink process) before it can be re-produced into paper again.

Pre-Consumer Waste Fibre is manufactured from a paper mill’s off cuts and waste and printers trimmings. As the original paper has not been printed on, it does not require de-inking.

Totally Chlorine Free

TCF bleaching is carried out without any chemicals containing chlorine, thereby avoiding the generation of organically-bound chlorine in the pulp and waste water stream. TCF cannot apply to recycled papers, because the source fibre cannot be determined.

Tree Free

Tree free paper is described an alternative to wood-pulp paper by its raw material composition. It is claimed to be more eco-friendly considering the product's entire life cycle. Sources of fiber for tree free paper include: agricultural residues (e.g. sugarcane bagasse, husks and straw) fiber crops and wild plants, such as bamboo, kenaf, hemp, jute, and flax, or textiles and cordage wastes.

Wind-Powered

Manufacturing process is powered by electricity generated from windpower. Mohawk produce all their papers with the use of 100% wind-generated electricity. Wind energy is emission free and completely renewable. This form of electricity is generated by resources that produce little or no pollution.

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Bible

Bible paper is a thin grade of paper, usually between 50–90 g/m2, and is used for printing books which have a large number of pages, such as a dictionary. Technically it is called lightweight offset paper and is a type of woodfree uncoated paper. This paper grade often contains cotton or linen fibres to increase its strength in spite of its thinness.

Coated

Coated paper is paper which has been coated by a mixture of materials or a polymer to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight, surface gloss, smoothness or reduced ink absorbency. Various materials, including calcium carbonate and talc can be used to coat paper for high quality printing used in packaging industry. Gloss coated paper has a high shine. As the ink dries well, there is no need for a seal varnish as the ink does not rub off. Matt coated paper is the opposite to gloss – it is coated with a matt finish to produce a paper that isn’t shiny, preventing glare.

Cotton (rag)

Cotton paper, also known as rag paper, is made using cotton linters or cotton from used cloth (rags) as the primary material. Important documents are often printed on cotton paper, because it is known to last many years without deterioration. Cotton paper is superior in both strength and durability to wood pulp-based paper, which may contain high concentrations of acids, and also absorbs ink or toner better.

Embossed

Paper is a very malleable material that lends itself to an embossed finish. It’s available in a variety of surface textures and patterns that are embossed into the sheet by a process of pressing an embossing roll (engraved a pattern on its surface) to a product to leave an impression.

Glassine

Glassine is a smooth and glossy paper that is air, water and grease resistant. It is usually available in densities between 50–90 g/m2. It is translucent unless dyes are added to color it or make it opaque. It is manufactured by supercalendering: after pressing and drying, the paper web is passed through a stack of alternating steel and fiber-covered rolls called a supercalender at the end of the paper machine such that the paper fibres flatten facing in the same direction.

Kraft

Kraft paper is a paper or paperboard (cardboard) produced from chemical pulp produced in the kraft process. Sack kraft paper, is a porous kraft paper with high elasticity and high tear resistance, designed for packaging products with high demands for strength and durability. Pulp produced by the kraft process is stronger than that made by other pulping processes. Kraft pulp is darker than other wood pulps, but it can be bleached to make very white pulp.

Manilla

Manila paper is a relatively inexpensive type of paper, generally made through a less refined process than other types of paper. It is typically made from semi-bleached wood fibres. It is not as strong as kraft paper but has better printing qualities. Manila is buff-coloured and the fibres are usually visible to the naked eye.

Marble

Paper marbling is a method of aqueous surface design, which can produce patterns similar to smooth marble or other kinds of stone. The patterns are the result of colour floated on either plain water or a viscous solution known as size, and then carefully transferred to an absorbent paper. Part of its appeal is that each print is a unique monotype.

Paperboard

Paperboard is a thick paper-based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker (usually over 0.30 mm, 0.012 in, or 12 points) than paper and has certain superior attributes such as foldability and rigidity.

Seed

Seed paper is a type of handmade paper that includes any number of different plant seeds. The seeds themselves can still germinate after the papermaking process and they can sprout when the paper is planted in soil.

Silk

The interim between gloss and matt, silk coated paper has a smooth silky coating, leaving it smooth to the touch but without the shine of glass paper.

Stone

Stone Paper, also known as Limestone paper, Rock paper, generically referred to as bio-plastic paper, mineral paper or rich mineral paper, is a type of strong and durable paper-like material manufactured from calcium carbonate bonded with small amount of resin high-density polyethylene (HDPE). It is used for stationery, leaflets, books, magazines, bags, packaging and maps among other uses.

Sugarcane

A tree-free paper alternative, sugarcane is a grass, not a hardwood. It grows very quickly and, after harvest, grow back just as quickly. No replanting is necessary. The process starts after the sugarcane stalks are crushed to extract their juice, then the dry pulpy fibrous residue that remains is called Bagasse. The bagasse pulp has physical properties that are well suited for generic printing. Normally this bagasse is either disposed of or burned, which means that we are repurposing what would otherwise be discarded.

Tissue

Tissue paper or simply tissue is a lightweight paper or, light crêpe paper. Tissue can be made from recycled paper pulp. Wrapping tissue is a type of thin, translucent tissue paper used for wrapping/packing various articles & cushioning fragile items. Custom-printed wrapping tissue is becoming a popular trend for boutique retail businesses. Sustainably printed custom tissue wrapping paper are printed on FSC-certified, acid-free paper; and only use soy-based inks.

Thermal

Thermal paper, can be referred as Audit roll, is a special fine paper that is coated with a material formulated to change colour when exposed to heat. It is used in thermal printers and particularly in inexpensive.

Tracing

Tracing paper is paper made to have low opacity, allowing light to pass through. It was originally developed for architects and design engineers to create drawings which could be copied precisely using the diazo copy process; it then found many other uses. The original use for drawing and tracing was largely superseded by technologies which do not require diazo copying or manual copying (by tracing) of drawings.

Transfer

Transfer paper is used in textiles and arts and crafts projects. Transfer paper is a thin piece of paper coated with wax and pigment. Often, an ink-jet or other printer is used to print the image on the transfer paper. A heat press can transfer the image onto clothing, canvas, or other surface. Transfer paper is used in creating iron-ons.

Watermarked

Used in high quality paper, watermarked paper give a feel of luxury and high quality. To create its desired effect an impression is pressed into the paper by attaching a wire pattern.

Uncoated

Uncoated paper has no coating, making it excellent for ink receptivity and absorbency. Due to the fibres of the wood, are rough compared to the coated stocks. These papers are very porous and soak up much larger quantities of ink. They have a tendency to dry faster to the touch, as the ink is absorbed into the porous paper and are easier to write on as the surface accepts the ink more readily than a coated stock.

Waterproof

Waterproof paper is a type of paper that is good for outdoor, marine, field use and general wet environments. It is normally durable and tear-resistant. The paper is created with special coatings (plastic-coated paper) and fibres to allow it to stay together and not change shape or texture when exposed to rain, dampness, or immersed in water. For these reasons waterproof paper is difficult to recycle.

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