Canadian Geographic’s June issue was the first magazine in North America printed on paper made from wheat straw waste. A joint effort by the magazine, the Alberta Research Council and environmental non-profit organization, Markets Initiative, the project demonstrates that a magazine-grade paper can be made with something other than wood pulp. The June issue contained 20% wheat straw, which came from China since there are no straw-pulping mills in Canada, and 40% recycled fibre content, with the remaining balance from wood pulp. According to Markets Initiative executive director Nicole Rycroft, this idea was four years in the making and has so far garnered very strong interest and market support. The paper was made at a NewPage mill in the U.S. and printed at Dollco Printing in Ottawa.
Contact: www.canadiangeographic.ca

Webcom has added the Legacy Standard News 100% recycled paper to its in-house Legacy line. The newsprint-grade paper contains 85% post-consumer waste, is FSC certified and is being offered at price parity with paper made from virgin wood fibre. Earlier this year, Webcom announced a policy encouraging customers to choose paper from Legacy 45% of the time within the next five years, up from 17% in 2007.
Contact: www.webcomlink.com

HP has named Mohawk Fine Papers an HP Indigo preferred partner for Indigo presses. Mohawk engineered a digital family of cross-platform papers called i-Tone, which Mohawk says offers exceptional image transfer on liquid and dry toner, and requires fewer clicks to clean the blankets. The line works on all HP Indigo presses, as well as the Kodak NexPress 2100 and Xerox iGen3.
Contact: www.papermill.com

Domtar’s new swatchbook for its popular Cougar line of products, Cougar Commands Attention, is intended to show printers and designers, how to tame the “wild side” of Cougar to achieve detail in both black-and-white and colour. All Cougar papers have been FSC certified and are endorsed by Rainforest Alliance.
In other Domtar news, the company announced in April that it had signed a deal to sell its text, cover and writing papers lines to U.S.-based Smart Papers. Domtar grades affected by the sale include Linen, Skytone, and Cotton.
Contact: www.mohawkpaper.com

Neenah Paper has updated its website to include new tools such as an Eco Calculator, Paper Selector and postal information. A new Shop Now icon is located on the home page, along with information about the company’s environmental contributions. The resources section had grown to include related links, a glossary, private watermarks and company logos.
Contact: www.neenahpaper.com

Made chorine-free with a CIE whiteness of 120, is Ecopaque from AbitibiBowater, a new UFS substitute paper for commercial printers. Ecopaque is made from fibre harvested from sustainable forests and contains 50% less wood fibre than a conventional freesheet paper with 50% recycled content. The paper, which the company says is ideal for direct mail, inserts, newsletters and book printing, has a brightness of 90 and is available in 42.5, 45, and 50 lb. weights.
Contact: www.abitibibowater.com

Domtar’s popular Lynx Opaque, available in cover and text weights in folio and digital sizes, is now FSC certified. The paper, which is also SFI-certified, has a 96-brightness rating, and ranges in text weights from 40 to 100 lbs. and cover weights of 65, 80 and 100 lbs. Lynx digital comes in 50 to 80 lb. text and 65, 80 and 100 lb. cover weights. Lynx is also lignin and elemental chlorine free. To coincide with the FSC-certification, Domtar has introduced a new Lynx Opaque swatchbook, Takes Control, with full ink coverage and a waterfall format for an easy one-glance look at samples.
Contact: www.domtar.com