SMART PAPERS WINS FULL FSC CERTIFICATION FOR KNIGHTKOTE® MATTE PREMIUM COATED PRINTING PAPERS

HAMILTON, Ohio, January 22, 2009—SMART Papers’ Knightkote® Matte, long respected for its high recycled fiber content, is now fully Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.  Corporations and graphic design professionals have immediate access to the company’s extensive lineup of environmentally responsible coated matte printing and packaging papers.

Knightkote Matte is manufactured with 50% recycled fibers, including 30% post-consumer fibers.  That is the highest recycled and post-consumer fiber content in a premium coated paper produced and sold by any North American papermaker.  New FSC certification gives Knightkote further industry-leading positioning and makes it a top choice for corporations, higher education and other non-profits who need environmentally responsible printing papers.

SMART Papers, North America’s largest independent manufacturer of premium cast coated, matte coated and uncoated printing and packaging papers offers the most extensive selection of FSC-certified brands including Kromekote®, Genesis®, Synergy®, Pegasus®, Solutions®, Skytone®, Proterra®, Feltweave®, Nekoosa® Linen and now Knightkote® Matte.  Several brands are available with 100 percent post-consumer fibers.

The growing collection of FSC-certified papers underscores SMART Papers’ longstanding commitment to sustainability in its premium branded papers and manufacturing operations.  Recently the company broke ground on a $30 million energy production facility to be powered by 100% cellulosic biomass fuel, primarily waste wood waste.  By late 2009, all of the company’s products will be fully carbon neutral and produced fossil fuel-free.

“We will continue striving to exceed customer expectations when it comes to environmental stewardship,” said Doug Gruber, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for SMART Papers.  “With the addition of Knightkote, SMART Papers continues to grow its offering of premium papers that are manufactured with high levels of post-consumer fiber and are FSC certified.”

“Sustainability is a choice,” added SMART Papers Chairman Tim Needham.  “We’re offering our customers the choice of having it all—the broadest range of high quality, value priced, environmentally responsible FSC-certified printing papers.”

He cited the company’s investment toward 100% fossil-fuel free production now underway at its Hamilton, Ohio manufacturing center.  No other North American printing paper manufacturer is currently transitioning all of its operations to fossil-fuel free production.

Knightkote Matte:  Matte Coated Papers
For Environmentally Responsible Print Projects

Knightkote Matte is available in two shades—a cool white and an elegant crème.  It comes in two unique embossed finishes and a comprehensive selection of text and cover weights, including a high-yield return card and a 130 lb. heavy weight cover.

In addition to offset printing, Knightkote Matte is guaranteed to perform on digital presses from Xerox, Kodak and HP Indigo as well as a large variety of production-rated color copies produced by all top OEMs worldwide.

Uses for Knightkote Matte include corporate print collateral, brochures, direct mail advertising, books, magazines, premium bag, carton and other packaging applications.

About SMART Papers

Hamilton, Ohio-based SMART Papers is the largest North American manufacturer and marketer of environmentally responsible, premium cast-coated, matte-coated and uncoated text, cover and writing papers.  The papers, used primarily in offset and digital printing as well as high-end packaging, are marketed in North America, Europe and Asia.

Brands include Kromekote®, Knightkote® Matte, SMART Digital™, Pegasus®, Carnival®, Synergy®, Passport®, Genesis®, Magna Carta®, SMART Brights®, Feltweave®, Nekoosa® Linen, Nekoosa® 25% Cotton, Nekoosa® Bond, Skytone®, Solutions® and Proterra®.  Many of the papers contain up to 100% post-consumer fibers and all are chlorine free.

By late 2009, the company’s Hamilton manufacturing center will produce all of its papers using 100% cellulosic biomass, primarily tree, yard and wood waste.  This will eliminate the use of fossil fuels and enable all papers to be designated fully carbon neutral.  All pulp used in papermaking is certified by one or more of the following third-party organizations:  the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).

SMART Papers supplies branded and specialty papers for a wide range of applications including corporate brochure and identity programs, annual reports, consumer labels and tags, high-end consumer packaging, stationery, greeting cards, invitations with matching envelopes, direct mail, security papers and more.  Please visit www.smartpapers.com, call 800-443-9773 or contact your local paper merchant for more information.  Customers may also order papers in any quantity at www.smartpapersstore.com.

Contact:  Doug Gruber, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing,
SMART Papers, 513-869-4207

22.01.2009

The first FSC labeled gin was launched in the Belgium market in December 2008. Made from the green pine cones of Pinus sylvestris, a common tree in the Flemish region, the launch of this gin also marks the first FSC certified non-timber forest product originating from Belgium.

Known as Dennenknopje, ‘little pine cone’ in Dutch, the gin is made from cones that are collected from the FSC certified Domeinbos Pijnven forest. Owned by the Flemish government, it is managed as part of a larger FSC Group that has been certified since 2006. Certification to FSC’s Principles and Criteria for responsible forest management ensures that the natural forest complexity is maintained and social issues are considered, while securing long term supplies of forest products.

Distilleerderij Leukenheide is the family owned company responsible for producing the gin. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest traditional gin distillery in the region. The company achieved FSC chain of custody certification in May 2008, facilitating completion of the supply chain from Domeinbos Pijnven forest by processing the gin and labeling the bottle with the FSC label.

The eye-catching FSC labeled gin brings promotion of FSC in the country and strengthened local identity to this relatively forest rich region. It also demonstrates that responsible management of forests can bring new and interesting opportunities, not only for recreational purposes, but also within the economic perspective of responsible forest product harvesting.

For more information, please contact Bart Holvoet, FSC Belgium.

Based on: FSC Belgium Press Release 19/12/2008

The Forest Stewardship Council is pleased to announce that President-elect Barack Obama’s one million inaugural invitations are printed on FSC certified paper.

This high profile use of FSC certified paper represents a milestone for FSC, demonstrating recognition of the importance of FSC certification at the highest levels of the US government and setting a precedent for subsequent procurement decisions. “We are very proud that President-elect Barack Obama and his team chose an FSC certified paper for his invitations. We see this as an indication of the seriousness of his commitment to change,” said FSC Executive Director Andre de Freitas.

Three FSC certified companies helped ensure that the invitations for this historic event reflect the economic, environmental and social values of the incoming administration: Neenah Paper, Lindenmeyr Munroe (a subsidiary of Central National Gottesman, Inc), and Precise Continental. The inaugural invitations, envelopes and inserts all used FSC certified paper; both the insert and the envelope bear the FSC recycled label.

Using recycled paper helps to take some pressure off the world’s forests and FSC recognizes the value of recycled material through its FSC Recycled and FSC Mixed Sources labels. FSC chain of custody certification tracks the recycled content through the production chain. This is checked by an independent certification body that is accredited by FSC.

All three companies in the supply chain are Forest Stewardship Council chain of custody (CoC) certified in order to sell FSC certified products and demonstrate their commitment to responsible forest management.

• About FSC
FSC is an independent, non-governmental, not for profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests. It provides standard setting, trademark assurance and accreditation services for companies and organizations interested in responsible forestry. Products carrying the FSC label are independently certified to assure consumers that they come from forests that are managed to meet the social, economic and ecological needs of present and future generations. Find more information at www.fsc.org.

• About Neenah Paper
Neenah Paper employs about 760 people with approximately 245 located at its Whiting mill.  All five of Neenah Paper’s are mills FSC certified. Neenah carries a wide variety of FSC-certified paper products and grades. www.neenahpaper.com

• About Central National Gottesman, Inc
Central National Gottesman, Inc. is a paper merchant with sales offices in 26 U.S. cities, warehouses in 14 U.S. locations, international offices in 17 countries and representatives in more than 40 additional countries. The Lindenmeyr Division in-cludes Lindenmeyr Munroe which is a traditional fine paper merchant. www.cng-inc.com

• About Precise Continental
Precise Continental, a printing shop with 65 employees located in Brooklyn, NY, was selected as the invitation engraver due to its longstanding reputation of quality, its union labor force, and its FSC certification. www.precisecorp.com

Contact:
Alison Kriscenski
Communications Manager
Forest Stewardship Council
Telephone:    + …
email: a.kriscenski @fsc.org

Precise Continental is proud to be one of the many FSC certified printers making a difference in the environment. We received our FSC Certification in April 2007. When you create using FSC certified papers you’re doing your part to support environmentally well-managed printing practices and human rights worldwide.

For more information on the Forest Steward Council (FSC) please visit their website www.fsc.org.

For a listing of FSC Certified Papers please visit  http://www.fscus.org/images/documents/FSC_certified_papers.pdf .  The paper listing is updated on a monthly basis so please check back frequently.

Inside a Gritty Brooklyn Factory,
Potomac Fever

A million inaugural invitations and one grateful printing firm.

By CAROLINE H. DWORIN
Published: December 19, 2008

ON Thursday, Dec. 11, Jim Donnelly got the call at his office on Jay Street in Dumbo for the biggest job he had ever had. Emmett Beliveau, the executive director of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, told him that Precise Continental, Mr. Donnelly’s 26-year-old printing company, had won the bid to produce one million gold-and-black engraved invitations for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.
Mr. Donnelly put out dozens of calls for rush orders of paper, ink and the like.

Mr. Donnelly gathered his staff for the announcement, and a cheer went up. “They were ecstatic,” he said. “They wanted to be a part of history.”

To meet the Jan. 2 deadline, Mr. Donnelly’s 65 employees have to work around the clock. But no one was complaining, Mr. Donnelly said, and he put out dozens of calls for rush orders of paper, ink and the like.

According to Mr. Donnelly, Precise Continental was selected over rival printers because it is a union company, it uses recycled paper and it is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which promotes responsible forest management. Although Clark Stevens, a spokesman for the inaugural committee, would not confirm that those factors were decisive, he did say, “These are issues that President-elect Obama campaigned on and that have concerned him throughout his career.”

Several days after the phone call, the snow fell heavily on the cobblestones in Dumbo, and trains rattled over the Manhattan Bridge. Inside Precise Continental, there was an almost poetic combination of mechanical repetition and human industry, all on an enormous ink-stained wooden floor. It could have been the 1800s.

The first order arrived by truck on Monday, from Neenah Paper, a Wisconsin company. Ink came on Tuesday from BuzzInk, in Chicago.

With clean hands, the workers inspected each invitation at each step in the process, and fed great machines moving back and forth. “This gentleman here can feed by hand as good as the automatic press can,” said Mr. Donnelly of a man he called Bobby, who was seated in front of a massive instrument moving sheets of paper from his left hand to his right.

Precise Continental prints stationery and specialty items, like certificates for Fordham’s million-dollar donors and invitations to an Emmy after-party sponsored by TV Guide. As for the inaugural invitations, they are being printed on recycled paper called Classic Crest (“It’s a distinguished cream color,” said Bernie Hennessy, area sales director at Neenah Paper), with an inaugural seal at the top in gold. The curling black script, modified versions of Shelley Allegro and Kuenstler typefaces, begins, “The Presidential Inaugural Committee requests the honor of your presence. …”

Mr. Donnelly’s plant will hum 20 hours a day, with the workers in two shifts, to complete the project. “Our goal is to get as much done before Christmas Eve,” Mr. Donnelly said, “so they don’t have to work the day after Christmas.” He would not say how much the invitation project will cost.

A small, dark-haired, steady-handed man named Augusto Lovato, who speaks more Spanish than English, hunched over a drawing board in a quieter room off the main floor, a dusty lamp nearby. Peering though an old magnifying glass at a copper plate, he expertly cleaned the serifs and curls.

“This is a real economy,” Mr. Donnelly said of the printing business. “This is not that bogus economy of Wall Street. This country used to manufacture things.”

Mr. Donnelly does not believe he will be asked to attend the inauguration. Of course, he has not finished printing the invitations.

Link to Article on NY Times Website