Beautiful, isn’t it. It’s up to us to keep it that way.
We all need to do our bit. By opting for paper-based bags instead of plastic you’ve chosen the more environmentally friendly option, but it’s still important for you to know as much as possible about the materials and processes involved in the manufacture of your bags. We’ve briefly covered the main points below, but if you have any further questions please contact us.
Paper
Paper is an inherently sustainable, biodegradable, recyclable and eco-friendly material, the key issue is to ensure the pulp comes from responsible forestry. All of the paper we use comes from well-managed forests where trees are grown and harvested specifically for purpose. Certification schemes such as FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) have helped massively not only in encouraging good forestry management, but also in promoting public awareness of the benefits of paper-based products.
Paper, and use of wood products as a whole, is a broad topic. TWO SIDES have published a series of highly informative factsheets about paper production, carbon footprint, water footprint, recovery and recycling, together with an interesting collection of articles dispelling some of the myths surrounding paper production and its sustainability as a product. Read more here:
Litho & Digital Print
Like many industries, the print industry as a whole has made great progress in making its offering more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Of course, it’s not just about the raw materials, but the processes involved, and the efficiency of their deployment.
All of our paper waste is compressed and recycled. Vegetable based inks are used in both digital and litho production. We employ efficient workflows and rigid colour management systems to ensure minimal waste. Any waste material generated, be that paper, ink or chemical based, is collected and processed using a licensed contractor.
Both Heidelberg (litho) and HP Indigo (digital) operate a Carbon Neutral scheme in their manufacturing process, more environmental information specific to each machine, the carbon neutral schemes, and the processes / chemistry employed in their running can be found here:
Foil (hot & cold)
Foiling, whether applied via the hot foil process (foil blocking), or cold foil (on a litho machine), is environmentally friendly. All of our waste foil is recycled, and the foils we use are both biodegradeable and compostable. Foiling does not affect recycling unless coverage is more than circa 70% of the surface area of the product, which is unlikely given that foiling areas are generally fairly small, a logo and a small amount of copy in most cases.
Generally we tend to promote foils manufactured by Kurz and Foilco, their environmental information can be found here:
Lamination
The materials used in bag production where lamination would be involved are around 220gsm up to 250gsm. In 2019, WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) found that laminate film presented either ‘no issues’ or ‘moderate issues’ for recycling if the film accounts for less than 5% of the weight of the product. The laminate films we use weigh between 10gsm and 12gsm, meaning that laminate onto materials of 220gsm represents no significant issue to recycling.
But what if a bag finds its way to landfill? We encourage our customers to consider Cellogreen, available in matt, gloss and silk finishes. Made by our lamination and UV partners Celloglas, it’s a cellulose-based film laminate carrying DIN EN13432, the standard for compostability and biodegradeability. Fully biodegradeable, it is of course also fully recyclable.
Read more about Cellogreen here:
Spot UV Varnish
Unlike solvent based varnishes, UV (Ultra Violet) Varnish does not emit VOCs whilst drying. UV varnished products are fully recyclable and biodegradeable.