How to choose sustainable paper

100% recycled paper is exactly what the name implies — paper that is made entirely from waste paper, without using any fresh fibres. We have gone a step further to ensure that all of our recycled paper is made from post-consumer waste. This means that all of our recycled paper reached the end consumer before being turned back into paper and is not made up of trimmings from our paper mills or industry waste.

Our NAUTILUS® portfolio consists of premium quality recycled papers, in a wide range of grammages and formats.

Choose from our 100% recycled papers below:

It’s important to note that not all recycled paper is 100% recycled. A lot of paper combines fresh fibres with 30% recycled paper from post-consumer waste, resulting in a very high quality recycled paper.

Our 30% recycled paper contains 30% recycled fibres and 70% totally-chlorine free bleached fresh fibre. This combination offers great printability, as well as an extra whiteness, high stiffness and great runnability.

Select our 30% recycled paper below or read more about our sustainability efforts:

Grass varieties account for around one-fifth of the total vegetation on our planet and is one of the fastest growing and ecologically ‘successful’ plants, which can be found in the tropics, the Alps, in water, and even in the desert.

Combining grass fibres with fresh fibres from sustainable sources creates paper with a unique haptic and natural look, due to small visible grass fibres. Due to its high-strength properties, it is especially suitable for packaging products.

Customers looking for alternative fibre papers have preferred:

• Focus: sustainable products that contribute to a circular economy
• Geographical scope: worldwide
• Goal: sustainable production, renewable materials, less waste, social fairness
• Revision: certification renewal is required every two years
• Third-party certification

Cradle to Cradle Certified®* is a globally recognised measure of safer, more sustainable products made for the circular economy. This full-scope certification covers all aspects from sourcing to production, and verifies that our products are produced in line with circular economy principles.

Products are assessed across five sustainability categories: material health, product circularity, clean air and climate protection, water and soil stewardship, and social fairness. A product is assigned an achievement level (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum) for each category and the lowest category achievement determines the overall certification level. In order to maintain this label, products must undergo certification renewal every two years.

Our entire mill brand paper portfolio from our mills in Austria and Slovakia achieved Cradle to Cradle Certified® at the Bronze level. While some companies choose to certify only specific papers within their offering to achieve a higher rating, we have decided to be as transparent as possible by including our portfolio from these mills as a whole. This certification covers a wide range of products spanning recycled, design, office and digital colour printing papers. Due to the comprehensiveness and rigour of the certification, it is a challenging one to obtain, but one that pushes us to reach our ambitious sustainability goals. Learn more about it here.

*Cradle to Cradle Certified® is a registered trademark of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

Select from papers that are Cradle to Cradle Certified® at the Bronze level:

• Focus: monitoring the entire life cycle from raw material extraction to disposal
• Geographical scope: European Economic Area (European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway); recognised worldwide
• Goal: CO₂ emission reduction, less waste
• Revision: label criteria are revised every 4-5 years; certification renewal is required if the new criteria applies to the certified product(s)
• Third-party certification

The EU Ecolabel is a label of environmental excellence recognised across Europe and worldwide, that is awarded to products and services meeting high environmental standards throughout their life-cycle: from raw material extraction, to production, distribution and disposal.

Established in 1992, the EU Ecolabel promotes a circular economy by encouraging producers to generate less waste and CO₂ during the manufacturing process. The criteria encourage companies to develop products that are durable, as well as easy to repair and recycle. Strict guidelines, enforced through third party controls, are in place to ensure efficient actions that contribute to a positive environmental impact. Many companies turn to the EU Ecolabel criteria for guidance on eco-friendly best practices when developing their product lines.

All of our Mondi uncoated fine paper mill brands are EU Ecolabel certified.
Find the right one for you below:

• Focus: eco-friendly product design; recycled products in the paper & printing sector
• Geographical scope: worldwide
• Goal: protection of the climate, resources, water and humans and the environment
• Revision: validity usually lasts 3-4 years; criteria is revaluated before validity expiration in case of certification renewal
• Third-party certification

The Blue Angel is the world’s first ecolabel, made in Germany, setting high standards for environmentally friendly product design since 1978. It is seen as a gold standard, and serves as a reliable guide for more sustainable consumption.

The label’s criteria covers the protection of the climate, resources, water and humans and the environment. The Blue Angel is overseen by four German institutions and labels are awarded by an independent jury.

For the paper and printing sector, the Blue Angel has a strong focus on recycled products, as well as restrictions on the use of optical brightening agents (OBAs). Printed matter containing a percentage of fresh fibres must be sourced from sustainably managed forests and forestry companies with high ecological standards in order to receive certification.

A selection of our NAUTILUS® papers have the Blue Angel label:​​​​​​​

• Focus: environmental impact of production, usage and disposal of consumer goods
• Geographical scope: Austria
• Goal: sustainable consumer goods across all sectors
• Revision: certification renewal is required every four years
• Third-party certification

The Austrian Ecolabel provides information on the environmental impact of the production, usage and disposal of consumer goods. It offers orientation to consumers and green standards to producers.

Created in 1990, it serves as an all-encompassing certification with environmental and sustainable criteria spanning 60 different product groups and services, including tourism, educational institutions, events and culture. Traditionally, products with this certification were produced locally, representing a reliable guarantee of better production standards for its domestic audience. It is therefore still important within this market, but a parallel certification with EU Ecolabel is encouraged, where possible.

Select from papers with the Umweltzeichen label:

FSC™ labels are on millions of products worldwide, from egg cartons to your favourite book, so chances are you’ve come across one before. FSC™ is an international non-profit organisation, established in 1993, to promote responsible forest management worldwide. The FSC™ label is an assurance that the paper you purchase is produced from wood that comes from FSC™ certified sustainably managed forests. There is also an FSC™ recycled label which verifies paper made from 100% recycled materials.

Products bearing this label use materials sourced from FSC™ certified forests. Forests are managed according to rigorous standards and audited by an independent third party.

All of Mondi’s forestry operations are FSC™ certified and all of our mill brands are FSC™ certified. Select from our FSC™ certified papers below:

The FSC™ recycled label verifies that a product is made from 100% recycled material. Using recycled materials helps contribute to a circular economy and reduces the demand for fresh fibres.

Although not required by the FSC™ recycled standard, all of our recycled papers go a step further and are made from 100% post-consumer waste. Post-consumer waste is all paper that has reached the end consumers and served the first cycle of its life — in other words, all paper that is used and disposed of at end of life — before being turned back into paper.

The FSC™ organisation has identified 10 principles that guide its forest management, including protecting the rights of workers and indigenous peoples whose local communities depend upon and are impacted by the forests.

Select from our FSC™ recycled certified papers below: ​​​​​​​

PEFC is an international non-profit, non-governmental organisation, founded in 1999, dedicated to promoting sustainable forest management through independent third-party certification. The PEFC logo is a declaration that the wood fibres in paper products come from PEFC certified, sustainably managed forests.

Customers looking for PEFC certified papers have preferred:

Color Copy original is the leading digital colour printing paper and was the first paper of its kind to have unavoidable CO₂ emissions compensated — ever since 2010. When you purchase Color Copy original A4 and A3 papers, we take care of offsetting CO₂ emissions for you.

While our efforts have had a great impact on CO₂ reduction, a certain residual amount of CO₂ emissions remains. We offset the remaining and unavoidable CO₂ emissions by contributing towards offsetting initiatives.

Of course, reducing emissions and optimising our production processes is still of the utmost importance. As of 2020, Mondi Group reduced CO₂e* emissions per tonne of saleable production by 23.6% since 2014 and by 45% since 2004. We are committed to reducing these emissions even further going forward, based on science-based targets**.

*CO₂e means that all carbon dioxide equivalents are considered in the calculation (all greenhouse gases, not just carbon).

**Science-based targets are validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, a partnership between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the WWF.

All our papers for professional print and office use, as well as premium packaging and technical converting papers are available to have CO₂ emissions offset on an optional basis. This means that we take care of calculating unavoidable emissions and offsetting them with the support of ClimatePartner. Please ask for this when speaking to one of Mondi’s paper distributors.

Despite our best efforts to reduce our footprint, certain production emissions are unavoidable. We therefore offer the possibility to offset remaining CO₂e emissions for our uncoated fine papers by contributing to projects that are making a real, tangible difference.

One such project that we support,  is the Pesqueiro hydro power plant on the Jaguariaríva River in south Brazil – an internationally recognised carbon offset project. To offer transparency, information about the offsetting of CO₂ emissions of our products is printed on the packaging and included in customer documents.

Our CO₂ emissions are calculated and offset with the support of ClimatePartner, an international solutions provider for corporate climate action. These CO₂ calculations are based on recognised industry standards such as CEPI's Carbon Footprint Framework for paper and board products.

Read more about our carbon offset project here.

Totally chlorine free (TCF) papers are made from pulp that is either unbleached or that has been bleached without any type of chlorine.

If having a TCF (totally chlorine free) paper is a priority for you, then these products might be the right choice:

Elemental chlorine free (ECF) papers are produced from pulp that has been bleached with a derivative such as chlorine dioxide, for a more sustainable pulp and paper manufacturing process.

All of Mondi’s uncoated fine paper range is ECF as standard. Choose from the options below:

Process chlorine free (PCF) is the classification given to recycled papers, meaning that no chlorine or chlorine dioxide were used in the recycling process; but that the original collected paper may have been previously bleached and may therefore contain traces of chlorine substances.

Select from our PCF papers below: