Whistle Ink ‘Office Supplies’ Blog

We are all doing our bit for the environment, whether it’s recycling with the help our local councils as they provide coloured bins or off our own backs but what if we were forced to do it through the purchases we make?

Nowadays the vast majority of us recycle paper, throwing out the piles of newspapers, magazines and the countless junk mail we receive – but how many of us then go out and buy recycled paper?

If we put paper out to be recycled why don’t we buy paper that has been recycled, completing the cycle fully?

Recycled paper is now alot cheaper than ever and may cost just a few pence more than ’virgin’ or brand new paper so what if manufacturers decided to no longer produce cheap brand new paper and instead only offered us a version that was more environmentally friendly – maybe not totally 100% recycled but nonetheless ‘greener’?

I doubt many would notice the difference – especially as the idea of cheap copier paper is to print non important work at home and at work for internal documents for filing etc.

If you look at the cheap 5 Star range of copier paper – the descriptions are virtually the same:

5 Star Office Value Copier Paper Multifunctional 80gsm 500 Sheets per Ream A4 White [1 Ream]

And

5 Star Office Copier Paper Multifunctional 80gsm 500 Sheets per Ream A4 White [1 Ream]

Yet the second one, which costs around 50p more is manufactured using FSC pulp from mixed sources.

The second idea is to tax virgin paper increasing the price. Maybe slightly more complicated (!) to implement but I’m sure this would have an effect on the price conscious consumer.

If virgin paper was £1.50 - £3.00 more than the recycled paper would that change a consumer’s habit?

If you currently changed from virgin paper to recycled paper for home or office – how are you finding it? How would you feel if you were faced with just one option when it came to budget copier paper which was recycled or at least more ‘greener’ paper?

Whistle Ink is one of the leading and largest office supplies product information sites that give extra value information about office products before customers buy.

It’s possible that when you even think about recycled copier paper you see the price and think ‘no way - I can get two reams of new paper compared to the price of one ream of receycled copier paper‘.

Right?

I guess it’s one of those personal decisions you have to weigh up. I can only assume that it must cost more somewhere in the chain for it to be priced so high.

The price of recycled copier and recycled laser paper isn’t just down to the retailer or the place where you buy the paper from but probably beyond the wholesaler.

We currently buy the 5 Star Multifunction Copier Paper for £2.03 exc vat and the cheapest really recycled paper - made from post consumer waste - is the Canon Multifunctional Paper Recycled 80gsm Ref 81140 which we buy at £2.58.

That’s a reasonable price? Yeah sure. Maybe it just deoends on how much you but but still why does it have to be more expensive?

Evolve Office Copier Paper Multifunctional 80gsm Ref 70478 is another high quality multipurpose copier paper made from 100% reclaimed material costs us £3.14 exc vat.

When every penny counts what would you choose? Or does it not matter all - it’s recycled paper all the way?

Click to read more about recycled office copier