Do you know why we at Holmen lead the way towards a smaller carbon footprint and an environmentally sustainable position for schoolbooks printed on paper?
The main reason is that we know the strength of the printed book. We are here for the market – and the students – and the teachers – with the solutions you can depend on for the future. The raw material we use is a by-product from sustainable forest management. Everything we do is traceable, sustainable and recyclable.
Then what is so special about our paper? Our pulp production preserves the flexibility of the fresh wood fibres, so that the finished paper becomes light-weight with good opacity. Paper from Holmen is uncoated with a smooth surface, naturally bright with a minimum of bleaching, and produced with the lowest carbon emissions compared to all the printing and writing paper producing mills in Europe, according to FisherSolve (2022).
Go towards a smaller climate footprint. Compare the CO2(eq) emissions/tonne of paper from Holmen Paper's mills to all other paper mills in Europe. We're best in class.
| Holmen Paper mills | < 145 kg CO2(eq)/tonne of paper |
| Average uncoated woodfree paper mill in Europe | 1479 kg CO2(eq)/tonne of paper |
Source: FisherSolve database, mill emissions cradle to gate, Q4, 2021.
When choosing a fresh-fibre paper you don't just save weight and reduce cost for paper and transportation. Visual comfort has a direct impact on reading speed, comprehension and memory. You'll make books that empower reading, teaching and learning.
Better opacity brings less fatigue.
The paper should not be too bright.
For light-weight books with good quality.
A good text book paper has high opacity. When the opacity is high, almost nothing from the print on one page is visible through to the other side. If you choose a thin paper, for example to make the book easier to carry, you increase the risk that content will shine through. A minimum of 95% opacity is recommended.
When the book is a mix of text, illustrations and images with clear and bright colours, an uncoated matt paper is a great choice. Papers with brightness lower than ISO 80% are recommended for the best visual comfort.
Your book can be light-weight, with the same thickness of the pages and the same opacity as before, when you switch to a fresh-fibre paper with bulky properties. The weight of the book matters for students and teachers – and for distribution, where it may lead to both lower cost and less environmental impact from transports.
