In the last few years, there has been an increasing sense of responsibility in the publishing industry for its wider impacts on society, especially regarding the sourcing of paper. Focusing specifically on the issues surrounding the sources of fibre contained in paper, Acona takes in an in-depth look at responsible paper sourcing. 

The paper industry today is at the forefront of the sustainability movement, making great changes to reduce emissions and waste. Mondi Business Paper Service looks at the advancement of environmentally responsible sourcing in printing and publishing. 

Specialty papers are of considerable interest to the paper industry. They tend to be higher added-value products that attract a premium, hence a better financial performance for the producer. Pira International provides an overview. 

Incorporating electronics could be one of the most important developments in the paper industry over the next few years. Graham Moore, Pira International, predicts the future of this exciting sector. 

For decades inkjet has been used for the labelling and coding of boxes, but this represents the tip of the iceberg of packaging applications and many inkjet printers are being designed to tackle much broader but more challenging applications. The corrugated packaging market, widely acknowledged as being rather slow-moving and margin-depressed, continues to hold lots of potential for inkjet technology because it is such a large market for package printing. Corrugated is also moving away from traditional long runs as brand owners and other users look to reduce inventories and deliver products just in time. The overall printed and unprinted packaging production market can be broken down into eight segments. Paperboard containers and boxes is the largest, followed by corrugated, which in 2003 was valued at US$117 million. The projected value for corrugated in 2008 is estimated to reach $140 million.

Nanotechnology has been used to improve retention and drainage systems for wet-end chemistry for some time, though
scientists are only just beginning to understand how it works and what it means for the future of papermaking. Nanoparticle technology for wet-end chemistry is basically the science of silica monomers grown into clusters.

We’ve heard plenty about how nanotechnology is being used to improve performance of paper and packaging through its use in additives and coatings, but what about nanotechnology’s potential in the actual production process, even helping to grow the perfect trees for paper? It would be hard to think of a material that has contributed more to our civilisation than paper. The rise of Internet communication has not diminished paper’s role in the world; on the contrary, the Internet seems to have increased it.

The packaging and board sector of the paper industry appears to be showing a greater demand for higher technical properties and on-machine advantages from the dyestuffs they utilise. This is driving the trend of reduced use of traditional basic dyestuffs becoming less technically suitable for some higher-end packaging and board grades, and being replaced by more advanced products in the form of speciality modified basic and direct dyes.