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Paper is worth its weight
Many of the main office equipment
manufacturers operate in both the
USA and Japan and it is therefore a
reasonable assumption that there
should be no technical reasons why
lower grammage papers cannot
be used in office machines – fax,
copiers, printers, etc. – available in
Europe. However, across European
countries the standard grammage
for office printer and copier papers is
still 80gsm.Why is Europe different?
The reason is simple: tradition.
When the first office papers were
developed, their production was mainly
concentrated in Central and Northern
Europe. The raw materials widely
available in that region could only
produce the quality needed for
an office paper at 80 grams per
square metre.
Over the past two decades, a
significant number of producers have
tried to develop an office paper with
One way of reducing the environmental cost of paper is to use a lighter weight
than the standard 80gsm (grams per square metre). The use of office papers with
lower grammages is standard in some parts of the world like North and South
America, South Asia and Japan and is becoming increasingly common in Europe.
the lower weight of 75gsm. However,
a credible alternative to 80gsm has
failed to materialise, as manufacturers
could not achieve the critical factors
of thickness, stiffness and opacity of
paper; characteristics that have an
immediate impact on runnability and
print quality.
The majority of the 75gsm qualities
available in the European market came
mainly from outside Europe and were
used as low cost, short-term attempts
to counter pricing problems. As they
did not possess the average quality
requirements demanded by discerning
copier/laser paper users, they tended to
be perceived as being of inferior quality.
But tradition is no longer what it
used to be.
Changing the status quo is very
difficult and challenging, but that
was the goal when Discovery was
launched, back in 1995. Discovery is
a standard quality brand with only
two grammages available: 70gsm and
75gsm.
Discovery is now the best selling
75gsm office paper in Europe. Its sales
growth has been very interesting,
clearly reflecting the changing
perceptions of end users towards
lighter grammages and a growing
realisation that Discovery is a paper of
the highest quality.
sustainabletimes
23
www.binfo.co.uk
Here, Ashley Miller, Sales
Manager UK grupo Portucel
Soporcel, explains how
Discovery paper combines
quality and perfomance
with sustainability.
Q
Why does Discovery have
the same (or even better)
performance than a competitor
80gsm office paper?
A
When used for printing or
copying, quality of output
depends on the stiffness and
thickness levels of the paper used,
not the weight. In that sense,
Discovery was a real innovation
in the market, as it combined a
lower grammage (70 or 75gsm)
with high levels of thickness
and stiffness; better than most
standard 80gsm grades.
Q
Why is the quality of Discovery
paper so high?
A
In two words: eucalyptus
globulus – the tree species
used to produce Discovery. The
wood from this specific species
of eucalyptus has very unique
characteristics that provide
excellent stiffness, thickness
and opacity levels to the paper,
even at lower grammages. The
continued...
Portucel Eucalyptus Globulus nurseries