Should you get recycled folders?

What’s more eco-friendly: recycled paper or non-recycled paper? The quest for green pocket folders.

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Join EasyPocketFolders.com as we look for the most eco-friendly pocket folders for your business.

All of our pocket folders are made out of paper. We have many recycled pocket folder options, with just as many non-recycled (virgin fiber) options.

In looking at our website stats, we’ve noticed a trend over the last five years: people really want green pocket folders.

And you know what? We’re happy to oblige; nearly half of our paper collection is recycled stock.

But all this talk about greening your office supplies, or buying the most eco-friendly folders available got us thinking: How “green” are recycled pocket folders? And are non-recycled folders as villainous as they’re made out to be?

We’ve been talking to some paper experts about this matter, and the conclusion is this:

Recycled papers can be considered more eco-friendly because they don’t require any new trees to be cut down, and are often sent to the recycle bin to be made into new recycled products. On the flip side, non-recycled papers can be considered more eco-friendly because there is a whole step in the paper production process for recycled paper that virgin fiber doesn’t have to go through, saving energy in fuel and water.

Clear as mud, right? Let’s clear this eco quandary up a little.

To better understand why recycled paper may or may not be more eco-friendly than non-recycled paper, let’s look at this quick lesson on how paper is made.

From tree to sheet: how non-recycled (virgin) paper is made.

Timber piles at a marshalling yard
8′ log sections are stacked in piles based on wood type. Photo by Lastly Creative on Unsplash
  1. Trees are harvested, cut into 8 ft. sections, and sorted into piles at the mill based on wood type.
  2. Bark is removed from the logs and the logs are then “chipped.” Shakers sort the chips. Big chips are sent through the chipper again until desired size. Unusable chips are burned for fuel.
  3. Digesters turn chips into pulp. Pulp from different species is blended in different amounts. The pulp goes through a multi-bleaching process to make bright white papers. Why does paper pulp need to be bleached in multiple steps? Because bleaching all at once would break down the pulp, making a weaker product.
  4. The pulp is then added to water and makes what paper manufacturers call a “fiber soup”. This pulp mixture is sprayed on wire screens. There is a felt layer on top of the pulp mixture. Through gravity and suction, water is taken out of the pulp mixture. At the beginning of this process, the mixture is 99% water. By the end of this process, the water content is ~3%.
  5. At this point, a dandy roll can place watermarks or texture on the paper (like our laid or linen paper stocks).
  6. When the paper is strong enough to support its own weight, it’s transported to a felt machine that pulls more water out of it.
  7. After the paper is dried to the desired moisture level, then it moves to calendaring. Calendering is the process that smooths the paper after the water is removed. Fun fact: a finished jumbo roll of paper contains 45-55 miles of paper!

One important note about paper-making

Since paper making is water-intensive, most U.S. mills are located in non-arid regions, like Wisconsin or Pennsylvania. The American Forest & Paper Association has a helpful graph that shows how many jobs and facilities are located in each state.

Additionally, these regions are better for making non-recycled paper. Logging operations are closer to the mills, which drastically reduces transportation costs of getting the logs to the mills.

Are recycled papers more eco-friendly?

The term “recycled” is synonymous with being eco-friendly. And from many perspectives, it is.

Here’s why:

Recycled papers are made of what’s called pre-consumer waste and post-consumer waste.

Pre-consumer waste consists of scraps from the production floor (for example, the paper left over when a folder is cut out from a full sheet of paper) or perhaps magazines that were not sold to the end-user.

Post-consumer waste is the stuff that you throw into the recycling bin, whether it’s at home or at the office. This could be everything from greeting cards, boxes from shipments, or paper documents.

Looking down into an orange wire mesh garbage can holding shredded paper destined for the recycling plant
Your discarded mail and shredded documents is classified as post-consumer waste. This will be processed and manufactured into recycled paper products, including green pocket folders.

Using spent paper waste is sustainable from two perspectives:

First, it diverts that waste from ending up in the landfill. According to the American Forest and Paper Association, the U.S. recycled more than 67% of all paper waste in 2020. In fact, that number has been steadily increasing over the last decade.

The twist to this story, however, is that it is estimated that nearly half of all landfill waste is made up of paper products. The U.S. is doing better each year at diverting paper waste from the landfill, but there is still room for improvement.

Large tractor driving over landfill waste
Half of the waste you see here is paper products.

Want to play a role in diverting paper waste from the landfill? Consider adding a line to your pocket folders that says, “Please recycle this folder when finished with it.”

Recycling paper diverts waste from landfills, but producing recycled papers has an added benefit, which brings us to our second point.

By using waste that was otherwise landfill-bound, paper manufacturers are decreasing the demand for the felling of trees, thus keeping forest habitats intact and ecosystems happily chugging along.

If you look at recycled paper from an ecological perspective, it does seem to be the greener option.

But let’s look at the other side of this story.

Are non-recycled papers more eco-friendly?

There is a big difference in the production process of recycled paper and non-recycled paper.

Recycled paper has to go through a deinking process, which can be energy-intensive. Here’s the catch: there are just four deinking facilities in the U.S, making transportation to and from those facilities costly and time-consuming.

Chart explaining the steps of the deinking process of printed paper materials
This chart shows all the extra steps in the deinking process that is needed to produce recycled paper.

To make recycled paper, first you have to factor in the oil used to transport paper waste to those facilities. Chemicals must be used in this multi-step process to get the inks off the product. Why do you need to remove the inks to make recycled paper? Inks need to be taken off paper waste to create a stronger, more color-consistent recycled paper product.

In this respect, non-recycled papers can be considered more eco-friendly because products made of virgin fiber skips this often energy-intensive step that is necessary to make recycled paper.

Let’s answer this. What’s more eco-friendly: recycled paper or non-recycled paper?

Despite the extra step to deink the paper, recycled paper is still more eco-friendly than non-recycled paper. Here’s the TL;DR answer:

Recycled paper is the more sustainable, eco-minded option because no trees are cut down to make more paper. Recycled paper helps keep ecosystems intact, and is made with waste that would have otherwise ended up in a methane gas-producing landfill.

But non-recycled paper is also a green option because there are fewer steps in the manufacturing process. Additionally, if you purchase paper from paper mills who source wood from sustainably-managed forests (we do that), you’re not destroying entire ecosystems; you’re selectively harvesting timber.

The best advice we can give you for purchasing green office supplies for your business is this: purchase presentation folders that fit your business’ stance on environmental matters.

One final thought on the importance of sustainably-sourced, non-recycled papers.

Unfortunately, paper can only be recycled so many times. That’s why—although recycled paper is a very sustainable option—we need to source wood from sustainably managed forests to maintain the paper cycle.

A few more important things about recycled paper and green pocket folders:

When looking for green pocket folders, don’t forget about the ink.

Recycled pocket folder printed with low VOC inks

We use only soy-based or vegetable-based inks for printing our pocket folders.  All of these inks are low-VOC, meaning they don’t release harmful chemicals during the printing process—or when you’re using them.

Furthermore, pocket folders printed with low-VOC inks are easier to recycle, as the plant-based inks release from the paper easier than their petroleum-based counterparts.

Can pocket folders be recycled?

Since we only make folders out of paper, every presentation folder we sell can be recycled. Whether you order printed folders, foil stamped folders, or our popular blind embossed presentation folders, every folder we make can be tossed in the recycling bin.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s make your folders.