The recycling symbol can be found on paper and other material which, partly or wholly, are manufactured from recycled material. With paper-making, the recycled fibre is bleached without using chlorine compounds (TCF) but recycled fibre-based office paper is not necessarily preferable from an energy or environmental point-of-view. Consideration must be taken to technical, financial and environmental factors. The conclusion is that recycled paper should be used both as a raw fibre material and for combustion. The conditions in each country or region should be taken into consideration when deciding how these should be divided.

Paper must be recyclable, environmentally friendly chemicals must be used and the company must work with routines that allow quality and environmental assurance. Maximum emission limits are set for COD, AOX, S, P and NOx. These are dependent on pulp type and favour the use of chemical pulps. Value limits are weighted on a matrix and an average value calculated. A product can thereby exceed the value limit for one substance if it is low on another.For more information, please visit http://www.nordic-ecolabel.org/

A certificate for accessing whether the forest management practices are sustainable, and for ensuring that the impacts of forestry operations are environmentally, socially and economically sound.

Its main aims are ensuring the maintenance of the health and vitality of forest ecosystems, the conservation of biological diversity and the protection of soil and water.

Under the management, at least 15% of aged forests should be preserved in the country. Key biotopes and habitats could be retained almost all their typical features of at least the current population level. In general, domestic tree species are used in the forestry. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers are used only when unavoidable.

Care is taken to ensure that water and culturally valuable landscape complexes are well preserved.

The EU Flower is the environmental label of the EU member states. The environmental labeling criteria may encompass requirements on the environmental impact of the raw materials, emissions and discharges into the air and water, energy consumption and the content of environmentally hazardous substances. The decision as to which product groups are to be environmentally labeled is taken by the European Commission.

PREPS is a joint initiative from twenty-two leading publishers. These companies have come together to develop their understanding of responsible paper supply chains.

The group is supported by a database which holds technical specifications and details of the pulps and forest sources of the papers they use. It also holds data on CO2 emissions and water use at the paper mill level.

Based on the forest source information, each paper is awarded a grade of 1, 3, or 5 using the PREPS Grading System. This considers the country of origin of the wood fibre and how the forest sources have been managed.

We carry certain papers that have PREPS grading, for further details please enquire within.

For more information on PREPS, please visit http://prepsgroup.com/home

The RoHS directive restricts the use of six hazardous materials (Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Hexavalent chromium, Polybrominated biphnyls and Polybrominated diphenyl ether) in the manufacture of various electronic and electrical equipment. Though the RoHS is normally imposed on electronics, our papers adhere to these restrictions as well for environmental and health reasons.

For more information, please visit http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/rohs_eee/index_en.htm

The main aims of REACH are to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals, the promotion of alternative test methods, the free circulation of substances on the internal market and enhancing competitiveness and innovation.

REACH makes industry responsible for assessing and managing the risks posed by chemicals and providing appropriate safety information to their users. In parallel, the European Union can take additional measures on highly dangerous substances, where there is a need for complementing action at EU level.

For more information, please visithttp://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/chemicals/reach/index_en.htm