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A start-up has produced a picture book about the Sumatran rainforest which is thought to be the first UK title made using stone paper, a material comprised mostly of mining waste.
The Pebble Printing Group has sent out copies of The Jungle Job Centre to the UK, working with author Aaron Bourn and illustrator James Wilkinson under their Stafford-based imprint Budi Books. The pair made the decision to print some of their books on the material to reinforce the story's message, which teaches children about rainforest conservation and endangered species.
The printing company is pioneering the use of stone paper, which is made using 80% calcium carbonate from limestone mining waste and 20% polyethylene, from plastics. According to the company it is more energy efficient than traditional paper, waterproof, does not require trees or water and is recyclable. Five hundred copies will be printed using the new material, with another 500 formatted on regular wood pulp by Biddles printing service.
The paper is currently manufactured in Shenzhen, China, as only two factories produce it, but Pebble co-founder Hunter Bliss (pictured right) wants the product to be rolled out in the UK. "This is not only something that UK printers can adopt sustainably, it is something that should definitely be manufactured in the UK," he told The Bookseller.
"Stone paper can replace both paper and plastic, and calcium carbonate is available in huge abundance from natural and carbon-consuming industrial processes in every part of the world. It costs around 3% as much as tree-fibres per ton, although the current price of the finished paper is about the same as offset paper due to high investment costs. Right now the only two factories are in Asia, so there is reason to make the books here in Shenzhen to avoid the high importing price of stone paper, but the ultimate goal is to manufacture it everywhere."
The picture book is the company's first product to be distributed in Europe and the UK. Kickstarter pre-orders will be fulfilled first, with the remaining copies sold on Amazon. Plans to supply the books to Waterstones before the end of the year have also been mooted.
Commenting on the project, Bourn said: "Our book is based in the rainforest, and we’re donating 10% of our profits to Orangutans SOS, a wonderful Indonesian charity working to protect the habitat of our favourite animals, so it would have been remiss of us if we didn’t look into making our books more eco-friendly, and leaving as small a footprint as possible on the environment. It was this research that led us to finding Pebble and Hunter’s enthusiasm convinced us to go for it."
Bliss has plans to scale up operations in Europe and tap into sources of limestone waste. "We're planning a few stone paper factories using innovative waste sources in India which will hopefully begin construction next year. In Germany, we have a small team doing some market planning. I think we have two or three years until they begin factory planning," he said.
"Publishers in a powerhouse like the UK are a very important key to growing the material in Europe because books have such long life cycles. Unlike single-use packaging it allows existing paper companies and printers to experiment with this new material, understand its performance, and develop a strong circular economy around it. Ultimately, stone paper can replace graphic papers and plastics in a big way."