In this guide
Identify exactly what the percentage describes.
Recycled content can refer to material recovered after consumer use, material diverted during manufacturing or a combination defined by the relevant supplier or certification scheme. Terms such as post-consumer and pre-consumer need the definition used by the evidence source. A statement of “100% recycled” is incomplete if the product component, calculation basis and supporting document are unknown.
Ask whether the percentage applies to the paper fibre, the paper product by weight, a particular layer or another defined basis. For a book with a different cover, text and endpaper, one paper claim does not automatically describe the whole object. List each material component separately in the specification and customer-facing wording.
Keep the mill or merchant technical sheet, product code and publication date. If the stock changes, retire the old claim until the replacement evidence has been reviewed. A similar shade and gsm do not preserve a fibre-content statement.
Chain of custody answers a different question.
Forest certification and chain-of-custody systems track eligible material and claims through organisations in the supply chain under their rules. Recycled-content percentage describes material composition under the stated method. A product can carry one kind of evidence without automatically establishing every other environmental statement.
Use a certification label or claim only when the actual supplier, production chain, product scope and licence conditions allow it. A logo downloaded by a designer is not evidence. YY Print should not be described as certified, or a finished job as eligible for a scheme claim, unless that status and the precise transaction have been verified in writing.
FSC chain-of-custody standards are under revision, and scheme documents can change. PEFC also publishes chain-of-custody requirements and claim rules. Current official material and the certificate holder’s approval route take priority over remembered thresholds or artwork copied from an older job.
Appearance varies by stock, not by moral value.
Recycled papers can be bright and smooth, warm and tactile, visibly flecked or visually close to a paper made with another fibre mix. Do not add digital speckles to make a stock look more recycled, and do not reject a clean-looking sheet as inauthentic. Shade, cleanliness, surface, opacity, caliper and formation belong to the named paper.
Print representative light tints, neutral backgrounds, fine type and dark areas on the proposed stock. Flecks or shade variation may support the design or interfere with tiny details and pale product colours. The paper white and shade notes help separate the optical choice from the fibre claim.
Fold, score, bind and finish the material in the intended construction. Recycled content alone does not predict cracking, stiffness, ink behaviour, writing feel or durability. Supplier data and a relevant sample remain the practical evidence.
Specific wording is safer than “eco-friendly”.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority says environmental claims should be truthful, clear, not omit important information, make fair comparisons, consider the full life cycle and be substantiated. A precise statement such as a verified fibre percentage for a named component is narrower than claiming the whole publication is sustainable or environmentally friendly.
Do not turn recycled content into an automatic claim of lower carbon, less water, universal recyclability or overall environmental superiority. Those conclusions require their own defined scope and robust evidence. The recyclability questions also show why material input and end-of-life recovery are different topics.
Place necessary qualifications close to the claim. If the statement applies only to the text pages and not the laminated cover, say so in language the reader can understand. Keep the evidence and wording approval with the artwork version rather than relying on a link that may later change.
The quote should preserve both stock and claim boundaries.
A responsible quote names the proposed paper, recycled-content evidence available, any verified certification route, the components covered and the treatment of substitutions. If a requested logo or claim cannot be supported for that production chain, the artwork should remain open until the issue is resolved.
Assign one person to approve environmental wording. Marketing, procurement, designer and production contact may each hold part of the evidence; one record should join it together. Recheck the statement at reprint because paper availability, scheme rules, certificate scope and the artwork itself can change.