A new paper from Xerox won’t keep your mailbox from piling up with junk mail, but it may just make the waste generated by those glitzy wads of advertising a little less harmful for the planet. The company’s new High Yield Business Paper uses 90 percent of the fiber from the trees it is made from, versus 45 percent for traditional paper, doubling the paper yield from the same amount of trees.
Conventionally, paper is made using a chemical process to turn wood to pulp, which wastes a significant portion of the tree in the process. Xerox’s new paper uses a mechanical grinding process to minimize waste, and saves water and chemical use as well.
In the past, this mechanical grinding process produced paper that was impossible to use with digital printers due to dust and curling, but Xerox refined it to make their paper compatible. Because the paper is actually lighter than its chemically made counterpart, the company expects it will appeal to companies printing direct-mail advertisements and print catalogs. An additional 10 pages of paper in every pound means more content for the same mailing price: Xerox claims that mailing 1,000 5-sheet documents with their new paper would save $80 in shipping costs versus traditional paper.
“What’s good for the environment and what’s good for business come together in the Xerox High Yield Business Paper,” said Steve Simpson, vice president of Xerox’s Paper and Supplies Business Unit, in a statement. “This paper brings the benefits of traditional mechanical fiber paper to digital printers who produce high quality, shorter-life print applications. And it delivers an environmentally friendly option with increased savings to our customers.”
