Blood from a Stone? Never. But You Can Get Paper.

Just when you think you've heard everything, something comes along to make you say, "How is that possible?"

This is how I reacted to a recent comment by Sabine Lenz, founder of PaperSpecs (www.paperspecs.com):

"There's actually paper made from stones - did you know that?"

I smelled a Print Tip in the works.

Sabine led me to three sources for today's column: John Shu of Paperocks, in Burlingame, CA; Nicole Smith, Environmental Director of Design & Source Productions, Inc., in NYC, whose product is TerraSkin; and Michael Cheng, VP of Business Development for ViaStone Paper in Brea, CA.

Their URLs are:
www.paperocks.com
www.terraskin.com
www.viastone.net

This line of tree-free paper comes from Asia, where manufacturing began as early as 1999. The paper's composition is primarily calcium carbonate, which is a chemical compound commonly found in rock, such as limestone.

These unique papers are approximately 75% calcium carbonate and about 25% nontoxic resin. The manufacturing equipment is special, noted Nicole Smith. "Think of a film-blowing process for plastics," was her suggestion, "because it's nothing at all like making paper."

Paper made from rock offers customers a nontraditional option. Because it uses no water, this paper causes no water pollution. It releases no toxic gases, either.

"We breakdown excess limestone to a very fine powder along with some nontoxic resin to form the paper, all along keeping the natural color of the limestone without requiring any bleaching or coloring. Since our ingredient is natural, we do not require precious water to purify the paper," noted John Shu of Paperocks.

The manufacturing process is much shorter and consists of mixing the ground rocks with the bonding agent, then formed into paper.

Can these lines of paper be compared with traditional paper? Yes, say all three paper suppliers. Their papers share the same aesthetics of traditional matte coated paper. Printers use it the same way as they would traditional coated paper. The paper can be used on sheet and web offset presses, as well as gravure, screen, flexography and rotary printers, but so far, the paper is not compatible with digital presses or laser/inkjet printers.

The paper is tear resistant and water resistant. It doesn't absorb ink like traditional paper, so less ink is used (20% - 30% less, in fact). I have a few samples of the paper, and all I can tell you is how it feels in my hand: creamy, very smooth, and quite cool to the touch. You definitely know you're handling something different.

Tree-free papers are priced competitively, I'm told.

Some typical applications for TerraSkin, PaperRocks, and ViaStone include shopping bags, folding boxes, gift boxes, marketing materials and signage, labels, envelopes, menus, gift cards, even soap wrappers. New applications are being used all the time.

Is this paper "greener" than traditional paper? "Unlike traditional paper, which has an average of 6 - 7 cycles, ViaStone Paper can be recycled infinitely," wrote Cheng of ViaStone. Then I thought about the fact that rocks aren't a renewable resource. "You're right," wrote Shu, "… which is why even though it is one of the most abundant resources available today, we still need to make efforts to plan for the future. Paperocks is currently developing new strategies in which to one day recycle Paperocks at facilities throughout the world. However, keep in mind the day we run out of rocks, we would also run out of resources in buildings and roads are constructed.

"Paperocks is only trying to do a small part in leaving the world we live in just a little better, and with everyone's contributions, it can be achieved. Just look at when recycling first started out."

Mike Cheng of ViaStone also commented on this. "While the resources in ViaStone paper are not renewable, the lasting durability of the stone and additives makes it feasible to endure a closed loop recycling paradigm. When this is achieved, the emphasis will be about recovery rather than renewable."

Currently, Paperocks is only distributed out of California, but the company has been approached by large paper distributors. They sell primarily to large printers and design firms, not to the general public or end users. ViaStone is sold through paper distributors, with some exceptions (larger quantities and custom sizes). TerraSkin is sold by the company and by outside sales reps.

Questions about this tree-free paper? Please contact Michael Cheng at mcheng@viastone.net; Nicole Smith at NICOLE@DSNYC.COM; or John Shu at Jshu@paperocks.com.

And if any of you have had experience working with this paper, please drop me a line at mdana@bostonprintbuyers.com.

Comments? Talk to me at mdana@bostonprintbuyers.com.

©2008 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. You're free to forward this email to friends and colleagues: please do! However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.

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