Labels for paper manufacturing

These labels are lifecycle based, so do not, strictly speaking, apply solely to the manufacturing process - they also take into  account the virgin fibre content and consider recycling at end of life by encouraging use of recycled fibre, therefore overlapping to an extent with the previous category. However, the criteria for raw materials tend not to be so specific, or so rigorous as for the previous labels - so if the fibre source is a particular concern to you or your customer, you would need to look for papers carrying both types of label.

What all these labels have in common is that they take into account the main impacts in the manufacturing - use of energy, the chemicals used, what goes into the water and air, and the waste created - and set performance levels to be achieved. These are reviewed and tightened up on a regular basis, as technology allows advances to be made.

There are not so many of these in common use in the UK now, as more companies are moving towards EMAS and product declarations, but they are still relevant.

The EU Eco-label "tells you ...

• The product has been manufactured using special recycled fibres
• Virgin fibres come from sustainably managed forests
• Air emissions of sulphur and CO2 and water pollution have been limited during production"

The label also restricts or disallows the use of certain hazardous chemicals, including chlorine gas.

The requirement for virgin fibres is only that at least 10% come from forests that are certified. There is no specific for the percentage content to be recycled fibre, the only requirement is that mill broke is not included as recycled content.

The Blue Angel (Blauer Engel) is a German scheme, and the world's oldest eco-label, celebrating its 30th birthday this year.

It's not restricted to products manufactured by companies based in Germany and it is therefore seen throughout Europe. It operates in co-operation with the EU Eco-label.

This label again covers numerous product categories, differing according to the nature of the product. There are two relevant paper categories: Recycled Paper, which specifies a 100% recycled content, and Printing and Publication Papers primarily made of waste paper, which must use at least 800 kg of waste paper per 1000 kg of new paper produced. For both, the scope covers impacts of manufacture and use of raw materials, including fibre, and restricts or disallows certain hazardous chemicals, including chlorine gas.

The Nordic Swan labelling scheme is based in the Nordic countries and there are national offices for Nordic Swan in each of the participating countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

The label covers several paper types, including 'copy and printing paper', and impacts on production and, again, raw materials as with the previous two labels. For copy and printing paper it specifies that at least 20% of the fibre in the paper must come from certified forestry operations, or at least 75% of the fibre must be recycled fibre (or woodshavings or sawdust), or a combination of the two. For a recycled fibre content of less than 75%, there are further calculations to be made about certified forestry.

Paper with the label had been commonly available in the UK, and stocked by mainstream paper merchants, until quite recently but is now less often seen as more manufacturers use EMAS (described later). It again works in co-operation with the EU Eco-label.

Paper Profile is a European paper industry initiative, developed by a number of paper manufacturers and used in several countries around the world. It is a voluntary environmental product declaration, and as such does not set benchmarks or criteria to be achieved. What it does do is offer a standardised way for information about particular papers to be collected and presented to the paper buyer to help them in their decision-making. It also recommends that the manufacturers providing Paper Profile declarations should have the information verified by an accredited third party organisation.

WWF paper toolbox is a recent initiative, using scorecards to be completed by manufacturers that are similar to the Paper Profile in the nature of the information to be provided. Categories are fibre source, carbon dioxide emissions from use of fossil fuels in manufacture, including purchased electricity, measures of what goes into the waste water, waste to landfill and environmental management systems.

To help buyers with decision making, it then uses a points system to score according to performance in each category, adding to a total performance score.