Let’s start by clearing up some of the most common confusions:
Virgin vs. recycled. Paper manufacturing largely depends on fiber. Even though there are some niche markets based on tree-free fibers, the majority of printing papers depend on tree fibers. But mills have a choice in the fibers they use. We know that recycled fibers, overall, are more environmentally friendly and, thus, preferable to use. But pay attention. More than once, I have seen paper specifiers spec a sheet that was called out as 100 percent recycled, assuming this automatically meant 100 percent post-consumer waste (PCW).
- Companies:
- Neenah Paper
Sabine Lenz is the founder of PaperSpecs.com, the first online paper database and community specifically designed for paper specifiers.
Growing up in Germany, Sabine started her design career in Frankfurt, before moving to Australia and then the United States. She has worked on design projects ranging from corporate identities to major road shows and product launches. From start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, her list of clients included Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Deutsche Bank, IBM and KPMG.
Seeing designers struggle worldwide to stay current with new papers and paper trends inspired Sabine to create PaperSpecs, an independent and comprehensive Web-based paper database and weekly e-newsletter. She is also a speaker on paper issues and the paper industry. Some refer to her lovingly as the "paper queen" who combines her passion for this wonderful substrate called paper with a hands-on approach to sharing her knowledge.