Today is Earth Day

 Earth Day is an annual event first held on April 22, 1970. It now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EARTHDAY.ORG including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries.

What better day to tell you about our new range from FAVINI called Sparto made using Esparto grass, post-consumer waste and bagasse, the by-product of sugar cane processing.

Sparto is Favini’s new eco-friendly paper, made with alternative fibers and without tree cellulose. It takes its name from esparto, a perennial grass that thrives in hot, arid climates and acts as a natural barrier against desertification.

Sparto sustainable paper is perfect for creating luxury packaging, high-quality printing and sustainable design projects. Sparto’s eight colours are inspired by the natural environment that we help to protect with this truly special paper.

Detail images showing the inclusions in the paper:

Sparto is FSC™ certified and made with 100% self-produced hydroelectric energy. It contains esparto fibre, post-consumer recycled material and bagasse, the by-product of sugar cane processing.

Design and art direction of the swatches is by Silk Pearce. If you would like a copy of the Sparto swatch, just ask me for one! Email justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

https://www.earthday.org/

https://www.favini.com/gs/en/ 

https://www.silkpearce.com/ 

Posted by Justin Hobson 22.04.2026

Some very good news for the paper industry...

 Back to books - Sweden's schools cutting back on digital learning

Sweden is shifting its schools away from screens and back to physical books and paper. The government is making this change to fix falling reading and writing scores. The Scandinavian country is spending over €100 million to buy printed textbooks and is even looking to ban mobile phones in schools and seems in sharp contrast to Denmark's recent dismantling of their postal service Read Here

You can read the BBC article here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly0vk77vdko

Posted by Justin Hobson 16.04.2026

V&A censored catalogues after demands by Chinese printer

Today Printweek reports that a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by The Guardian has revealed that the Victoria and Albert Museum agreed to remove images from one of its exhibition catalogues after requests from its Chinese printing contractor.

The museum was asked by C&C Offset Printing to delete a map that did not comply with the Chinese communist party's censorship requirements.

The map, which was intended for the catalogue accompanying the upcoming V&A exhibition Music is Black, depicts a 1930s illustration of British Empire trade routes.

https://www.printweek.com/content/news/va-museum-yields-to-chinese-printer-demands

You can read The Guardian article here:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/apr/14/v-and-a-censored-catalogues-demands-chinese-printer

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.04.2026