environmentallypreferableoffsettextbookprintingpaperfor.docVIP

Environmentally Preferable Offset/Textbook Printing Paper for the State of California Project to Green California Procurement Task 5b for the State of Californias Procurement Division Department of General Services Earl Santee, Project Officer by Green Seal, Inc. Washington, D.C. October 11, 2002 Contract No. 3046347 Arthur B. Weissman, Ph.D. Green Seal Project Manager in conjunction with Kim Davis Mary Swanson Amanda Tullos The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Energy, Environment, and Resources Center The objective of Task 5b is to develop a list of recommended offset/textbook printing paper products based on specific environmental attributes. The choice of this category is based on the priority-setting work in Task 2, where Paper Book Offset (i.e., offset book printing paper) emerged as a first priority product category, based on total annual state expenditures, improvement potential, and potential environmental and/or health impacts. Paper Consumable Textbook (i.e., textbook paper) was a second priority product category (ranked 21st overall), based on improvement potential and potential environmental and/or health impacts. We reviewed published environmental standards for this category, including those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), State of California, and Green Seal. We determined target criteria for purposes of these lists based on the goals of maximizing recycled fiber content and using alternatives to elemental chlorine bleach. Recommended offset/textbook printing paper should be: 100% total recycled content; at least 30% post-consumer waste (per the USEPA Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines and California SABRC guideline for Printing and Writing Paper); and unbleached or process chlorine free. To identify environmentally preferable offset/textbook printing paper products, we compiled a list of companies from several sources that were reported to produce recycled-content paper products. We contac