As we’ve been discussing in these blogs over the past several months, one of FiberMark’s major focuses has been our effort to reduce the amount of pure pulp we use in our products.  Our goal is to use as much recycled fiber products and secondary post consumer waste (PCW) as possible without sacrificing any product quality.  In the last six months, FM Brattleboro has purchase 9,263,767 lbs. of secondary PCW and recycled fiber from about 16 different suppliers. Right now, our biggest supplier of secondary fiber is Yank Waste, located in Albany, New York.  We purchase about 656,000 lbs. of material a month from Yank.

The primary grade we purchase from Yank is called “Sorted White Ledger,” which is a post consumer grade consisting of uncoated, printed or unprinted white papers sorted from the waste stream, as well as “Hard Whites,” which consist of shavings or sheets of unprinted white paper.  Recently Yank offered us a grade of Sorted White Yellow Ledger.   Oddly enough, this yellow-sheeted material is derived from used aptitude test manuals printed on yellow paper.

It’s also good to know, of course, that all of these materials represent a great cost savings for FiberMark-cost savings that we can pass on to our customers.  Equally important, is the fact that by using these materials FiberMark is also playing a role in helping to keep our landfills cleaner.