NZ woodchips used in 'green' paper for copiers, computers

A big Japanese computer company has launched its own brand of "green" paper for copiers and printers, made from its own eucalypt forests in New Zealand.

Fuji Xerox Co of Japan and its affiliate Fuji Xerox Office Supply Co have branded the paper FR to promote it as being produced by recycling both forests and waste paper.

The paper is made from 50 per cent recycled paper and 50 per cent woodchips from Southland eucalypt forests planted by Itochu Corporation and Oji Paper Co Ltd in 1992.

Invercargill-based Southland Plantation Forest Company (SPFL) shipped 12,000 tonnes of woodchips in March to Oji Paper's factory in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan.

SPFL was started by Oji Paper and ITOCHU in 1992, and Fuji began putting money into it in 1996.

The woodchips were certified by the international Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as sustainably produced, and the paper is being sold initially for use in Japan.

The Southland forests started with planting on 520ha, but now cover 10,000ha, which will be continuously replanted to 180,000 tonnes of woodchips a year from 2010.

- NZPA