The popular Revive range of recycled papers from Robert Horne has been augmented with a new white 100% recycled fibre grade and an entry level 25% recycled content stock, giving specifiers more choice.
Dan Nolan of Park Communications, a London print company that does a good deal of corporate CSR and annual report work, relates: “Recently I had a customer that wanted a 100% recycled silk stock, and at that time the only samples I could send through had around a 5% tint of black, so they looked quite grey.”
Then there was another conversation that Nolan had: “I wanted to specify the Revive 50/50 grade but there were some cost constraints in the customer’s budget so I also had to specify some standard FSC woodfree silk.”
Robert Horne has in fact just announced the introduction of a new “superlative” white 100% recycled, FSC coated paper to add to its Revive range, made from the best office waste to ensure whiteness; it has also launched Revive 25 – a 25% recycled fibre paper, as a market entry point for users with both tight budgets to meet and green boxes to tick.
Nolan was present at the launch event for the new papers, at which Robert Horne outlined the developments, and was impressed. He told PMM: “This new 100% product seems to be very white because of the quality of the paper used. It has not only got to have the right environmental credentials but it’s also got to be able to perform for the purpose intended. It’s definitely something I will put in front of the customer next time though.”
On the 25% recycled grade, Nolan adds: “The 25% would probably be the kind of paper which that customer (with the tight budget constraints) was looking for. It presents the customer with an additional option, and we want to allow them to make informed choices based on cost and recycled content. I can’t think of a directly comparable paper to either of these off the top of my head, and I look at these papers on a daily basis.”
Andy Seal, head of print, publishing and distribution at the Department for Transport, was another interested observer, although the Revive 25% paper falls outside the parameters of the recycled paper framework that Seal has helped develop for government and public sector organisations to use (it specifies a minimum 50% recycled fibre). He agrees that the 100% silk sample provided “looks very very good”, and that these products would “fill a gap in the market”.
Seal continues: “We would be able to embrace these products on the basis that they fit with our needs, and that Robert Horne supply us with the information we require. Under the framework we ask merchants to provide samples and prices relative to the framework, and paper analysis sheets for any new products, with information such as fibre, energy used, and the mill it is made in. Once we’ve got that and it all checks out as we expect it to, we will consider and make recommendations.”
The launch of the new paper stocks sees a slight re-organisation of the Revive range: all of the 100% recycled papers are now called Revive Pure, with the new white papers joining the natural and LWC 100% grades; the 75% recycled fibre papers will eventually be discontinued, Revive 50/50 remains and the new Revive 25 slots in at the entry point.
With the exception of the 100% natural papers, all grades bear the FSC logo. The new Revive Pure White papers are made from 85% post-consumer waste, and 15% pre-consumer waste, thereby meeting FSC guidelines to qualify for the logo, says Robert Horne’s marketing director Philippa Charlton.
As PMM went to press, pricing – the caveat to all of the comments from Nolan and Seal – was due to be announced, but Charlton says the 100% paper will be priced at a comparative level to 75-80% recycled fibre stocks, while Revive 25 will be priced at around 5% above standard woodfree prices.
The new papers are being manufactured at Burgo’s Sora mill in Italy, where Revive 50/50 is already made. There have been business difficulties at the Aconda mill in Barcelona, where Revive 75 is manufactured, and the paper industry as a whole is under extreme pressure, but Charlton professes to be “very happy with this new deal with Burgo”, and “very confident that these are stable businesses”, adding: “That’s the real buying power of Paperlinx (Robert Horne’s parent company); we can switch supply when necessary and not affect the customer.”