If you are someone who makes prints larger than 17”x22”, you probably often use roll paper. On my printer, I can use rolls up to 44” in size, allowing me to create very large prints, such as 40”x60”, and very long prints (I think my record is about 25 feet long).
Independent of the chosen paper, the packaging of roll paper has an environmental impact. Most papers I’ve used include the long roll of paper wound around an inner core tube and encased in plastic. Two roll holders help the wound roll fit in the protective cardboard box. You can see the box, inner tube, and plastic in the picture on the right, and the roll holders in the picture below.
Until recently every roll I’ve used has had essentially the same packaging with minor variations, but I’m happy to report that Canson Infinity has taken important first steps in reducing the use of plastic in their materials. In recent rolls I’ve noticed the traditional plastic paper roll holders have been replaced by cardboard ones (see below). Thank you Canson Infinity for taking this step!
Typical packing material for a roll of inkjet printing paper
Kudos also to Canson Infinity for being one of the many manufacturers making 50’ rolls of paper. Hahnemühle makes lovely papers and I happily use them, but their 39’ rolls result in a 20% or so increase in the use of packing materials.
Note on recycling: Where I live, I can recycle all of these components except for the inner core (which is burned by our town facility). Given that most “recyclable plastic” is not actually recycled, I find cardboard greatly preferable.
New Canson Infinity roll holder on the left, random examples of plastic ones on the right