Recently elements of the paper industry have been waging a well-funded public relations campaign touting the environmental friendliness of their industry. The ads are stressing their abundant, well-managed forests and logging through the Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) programs. At the same time they also seem to be calling into question the importance of recycled content and the methods used to make recycled paper. This is an unfortunate backtracking from their earlier promises of increased recycling rates and new de-inking mills.

Although sustainability is very important in forest management practices, FSC and SFI certified virgin paper products cannot hope to be as green as post-consumer recycled paper. Recycling is a system that not only conserves natural resources but also reduces municipal solid waste.