Environmentally friendly papers

Environmentally sound paper offerings

Xerox believes that because all paper involves the Earth’s precious natural resources, we must do our utmost to use these resources wisely and most efficiently. All Xerox paper suppliers must meet a stringent set of environmental standards. We engineer our printers to run a wide range of environmental paper options. In short, we design with the end product in mind—a high quality document that makes an environmental statement.

At Xerox, we have several different ways to ‘go green’.

Certified papers carrying chain of custody certifications from bodies such as FSC, PEFC, SFI and others based on geographic needs
Recycled papers developed to run efficiently and reliably, due to rigourous testing and qualification processes undertaken at our own Media and Compatibles Technology Center.

Regardless of the paper you choose, Xerox’s offerings are backed by the research and commitment of our Media and Compatibles Technology Center. These engineers are paper experts, residing in Europe and North America. They test and qualify every single paper that carries the Xerox name. This is your assurance that any Xerox paper—from virgin to recycled—comes with the Xerox guarantee. We think this is a unique commitment in the industry. We don’t put our name on the paper unless we can promise the highest quality standards, runability and safe environmental sourcing.

A few considerations as you consider environmentally friendly paper: How do I choose the optimal environmental paper solution?

The paper you choose makes a statement. Begin with the end in mind. Virgin pulp paper that will be recycled is a solid choice and is readily available. Also, check out certified papers such as FSC or PEFC options. They are an industry-wide assurance of safe forestry and environmental practices. Think about the tabs or other inserts and try to find environmentally friendly options. And above all, recycle the paper you use.

Is recycled paper always the most environmental choice?

Recycled paper certainly is a choice that demonstrates commitment to the environment. There are many recycled options with varying levels of post-consumer waste (PCW) in the marketplace. However, even recycled paper can be less environmentally friendly if the PCW has to come from off shore, increasing the energy to bring it back to a domestic mill for processing. Be sure that the recycled paper you choose is tested for image quality and runability. At our Xerox Media and Compatibles Technology Center (MCTC), we submit our recycled offerings to a battery of tests for reliability, runability, image quality, dust, curl and other critical factors and we are most willing to share recycled paper performance results because choosing an environmental paper should never mean sacrificing quality.

But, recycled paper is sometimes hard to find. What do I do if I just can’t always find enough recycled paper to run my jobs?

Recycled paper can be a good way - but not the only way to go green. Xerox requires all of our papers, including our virgin paper suppliers, to meet very stringent environmental requirements. There are many paper choices available, with each one offering specific environmental benefits. There are a range of recycled papers with PCW levels from 10-100%--the most common is 30%. If you still cannot find enough recycled paper choices at a given point in time, consider certified paper. Using paper smartly means always considering the environmental impact of any type of paper used.