BOOK INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS 2016

CERTIFIED FIBER DECLINE
Perhaps more surprising to us was the dramatic decrease in the percentages of papers suitable for book
printing that were FSC certified or certified by other certification bodies. This is particularly so because
previous surveys have only showed an accelerating trend towards greater percentages of FSC and other
certified paper. Further, the other two sectors of the book industry who were surveyed, the publishers who
ultimately control their paper’s end use, and printers who have to make the paper substrates work through
their presses, both noted that they expect to use the same or more certified fiber going forward.
As with the recycled discussion above, it’s possible that part of this decline can be attributed to the wording
of the questions. But industry insiders point to a nuance in certification labeling as another possible
reason for this decline. That is, while many paper mills produce their paper with a majority of certified fiber
(FSC, SFI, or other), for many of those products, that fiber can only be reported as “certified” if it was specifically
ordered as FSC, SFI or otherwise such that it can be tracked in a Chain of Custody (CoC) audit. It’s
therefore possible and likely that much more certified fiber was used than was reported as certified.
All told, while many publishers, printers and paper manufacturers have strong environmental policies and
indicate they are on track to meet or exceed these goals, the reported trends here suggest a move towards
less recycled fiber and perhaps less certified paper. These changes and trends will remain a follow up focus
for the BIEC until our next survey.
www.bookcouncil.org
THE BOOK INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL (BIEC) is a nonprofit program that strives to benchmark, track
and improve the book market’s environmental footprint with science-based research and collaboration from
a balanced and fully represented supply chain including: publishers, book manufacturers, paper manufacturers
and suppliers, and environmental NGOs. The Council’s members work collaboratively to identify, foster,
and communicate best practices to reduce the book industry’s impact and increase the sustainability of books
(printed and/or electronic). It is chaired by Bill Rojack of Midland Paper Company and Lisa Serra of Scholastic
Inc. For more information, please refer to the BIEC website at www.bookcouncil.org.