Re: Then what does the PCC percentage means?

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on August 29, 2003

In Reply to: Re: Then what does the PCC percentage means? posted by Bob on August 29, 2003

: : : : : My HP inkjet's user-guide says, the paper of the guide contains 50% recycled paper, 10% post consumer content. What is PCC?

: : : : It refers what you throw in the garbage after you've used the product. If you are an environmentally conscious consumer or a corporation that wants to project itself as such, then you'll be interested in that number.

: : : : Personally, I think it's a shame how large the packaging is on inkjet cartridges, but that's apparently what they have to do to keep people from slipping them into their pockets and stealing them.

: : : From http://recycling.stanford.edu/recycling/caq_buyrecycled.html
: : : Q: What is the difference between pre-consumer and post-consumer material?
: : : A: When manufacturers use recycled material in their product, they define it in two ways: pre-consumer or post-consumer. Pre-consumer is basically manufacturing waste. For example, an envelope manufacturer might recycle the clippings left over when envelopes are cut from paper. These clippings could be made into other paper products instead of being thrown away. Post-consumer content, on the other hand, is the material that was previously used by consumers, such as, newspaper, plastic bottles, glass containers, and aluminum cans. In order for recycling to work, manufacturers need to make more products with post-consumer recycled content and consumers must buy more products with post-consumer recycled content. We will all then be closing the loop on recycling.

: :
: : The higher, the better?

: Yes. Putting garbage into a landfill, burning it, and compacting it all share this in common: they turn a ton of garbage into ... a ton of garbage. (Many people assume otherwise about incinerators, but the laws of physics apply, your kilo of trash is transformed into a kilo of ash and smoke and other trash.) The only way to change the equation is by recycling. If your kilo of trash can be partially turned into something useful, we make progress. The higher the PCC, the better.

So PCC is really the opposite of what I had intuitively assumed all these years. I'll have to remember that.