INSIDE: P. 12 » An Island Publishers Newsmagazine July 18, 1990 YESTERDAY’S PAPER onsider, if you will, the page you are now reading. Black ink on an off-white sheet of newsprint - basically a ‘mixture of carbon black printed on a thin sheet ~ made up predominantly of cellulose fibres extracted from wood by a chemical ® process. The process of manufactur- ing newsprint has been around for decades. Indeed, newsprint is among the most visible household products foundin the home. Werely on it for the dissemination of in- formation. Puppies piddle on it. Canary cages are lined with it. We pack our precious erystal in newsprint when were moving and our kids erayon pre-school art on the roll-ends that are too small to be used on the printing press. Most of us never give newsprint a second thought — generally it has been considered a disposable product — after all, who wants yesterday's paper? But recently, as with everything else, a growing concern for the environment has led to the recy- cling of newsprint in tonnages never before seen. We are saving yesterdays news in growing quantities. Through blue box and blue bag programs throughout North America, mountains of the stuff are being {accumulated for re-processing. The phenomenon is a good- 2 mnews-bad-news scenario, ac- cording to the newsprint industry, including those whose businessitis to apply ink to huge rolls of paper on printing pres- ses. There are four printed words that are apt to make many press foreman’s eyes roll: “Printed on Recycled Paper.” This legend may be going a long way to ease Minin oe STOP THE PRESSES — especially if they're printing on virgin paper. That's the philosophy of many consumers, but industry experts say the trend towards recycled newsprint will Cost some Canadians their jobs. the guilt of some publishers and their readers but to others whose job it is to keep the pres- ses rolling, it’s fraught with misinformation and hyperbole. John Norrington, manger of Canadian Newsprint Sales for MacMillan Bloedel Ltd., said the issue of recycling newsprint is “probably the number one challenge” facing paper manufacturers. “During the late 1980s cus- tomers started asking about recycled newsprint. During the early 1990s, customers will be demanding recycled newsprint,” said Norrington in a recent let- ter to his customers.” There’s ample evidence that’s already the case. Vancouver Island’s largest web press opera- tion — Island Publishers Ltd. located in Royal Oak — is al- ready feeling the effects. Verne Percival, press division manager, said some clients have been asking about having their publications printed on recycled stock. Others have demanded it. the urban forest The company recently lost two printing jobs to its competitor. Vancouver Island Christian Info and UVic’s The Ring took their business elsewhere because of the unavailability of recycled newsprint at Island Publishers. There have also been calls from “environmentalists who want to save a tree,” asking why Island Publishers hasn’t been using recycled paper. Those call- ing to ask the question are told that the availability of recycled newsprint stock is the reason it hasn’t been used. That will change in the next few weeks after Island Publishers receives its first shipment of recycled stock from Smurfit Newsprint Ltd. in Oregon. Percival said it has been dif ficult to obtain assured quan- tities of recycled newsprint. Smurfit, the largest manufac- turer of recycled newsprint in the U.S., has commitments for everything it produces. What's being sold off to web press opera- tions such as Island Publishers and the Thomson-owned E.W. Bickle Ltd. of Courtenay, are the end-cuts. Rolls of newsprint are cut to size by the manufacturer and the end pieces which are too small to make up a roll are now being sold where they would normally be turned back to pulp for re-manufacturing. Continued on Page 3 Tn ns 1 pisos THE WONDER OF FLIGHT has been known fo this plane, and jo the Victoria airport, for a\long 4 time. See Page 6. i BASIC BLACK: Westerners have a corral full of complaints about Easterners and now they have reason to be angry with one of their own, k.d. lang. But Arthur Black aint pulling any punches — he’s taking the pretty gal’s side./ Page 2. m@ MISS MANNERS: In a discussion about when it is and is not ap- propriate to point, Miss Manners covers a few points of etiquette. The pity, she says, is that it’s impolite to point out when people are breaking the rules/ Page 5. i PRIME TIME: Some people give the im- pression that they're in love with the world. Ivy Kent met such a person and then, by chance, learned why her acquain- tance appreciated the world’s beauty./ Page 9. TRYING HARDER than most sum- mer sequels, Die Hard 2 glves actor Bruce Willis a chance to show his stuff. See Page 15. Tap i