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PAPER MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA
Tel: +27 (0) 11 803 5063
Fax: +27 (0) 11 803 6708
Email: Info

PAMSA DOES NOT SELL, SUPPLY OR DISTRIBUTE PAPER PRODUCTS. PLEASE CONTACT OUR MEMBERS DIRECTLY FOR SUPPLY, QUOTATIONS OR SALES ENQUIRIES BY CLICKING HERE: Members

PHYSICAL ADDRESS:
Unit 4, Woodview Office Park
1 Humber Road
Woodmead, Sandton

POSTAL ADDRESS:
PO Box 1553
Rivonia 2128

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Latest News & Features

International Print Day – 8 reasons why print thrives

8 reasons why print thrives

By Samantha Choles, Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa

Using paper centres my world. It helps me process the craziness that is work, motherhood and life. With paper, I can make lists and plans. With paper, I can disconnect and escape into a book.

With research the world over pointing to a resurgence of paper and print, from planners to paperbacks, we are enticed away from the touchscreen to the tactile. Even so, the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA) still has to counter the perceptions that print is dead (or dying), or that it’s not “green”; two issues that could not be further from the truth.

Print plays an ever-important role in a digitally minded society – it informs, entertains and connects, but at the same time, helps us to unplug.

Reading
Plantations
Medicine with no printing
Paper at work

Print is alive

Print is not dead. It’s different. In this age of digital-everything, print still has the power to reach people in a way that no other medium can. It’s tried and tested. And it works. It was a few years ago but I remember seeing a printed insert from Takealot, South Africa’s online retailer. Clearly print is memorable too.

Experts will tell you that print alone cannot a marketer make. It requires an integrated, cross-platform approach. But print goes beyond marketing and media. It has many purposes – some hidden in plain sight and many that we take for granted. 

Print informs

This week I had to buy medicine for my children. Could you imagine the inconvenience of having to search online for the dosage instructions? Thanks to print, on the box, label and product leaflet, I am informed about the dosage and potential side effects.

Print also empowers me as a consumer. I am a serial (and cereal) ingredient checker. By reading the ‘fine print’, I can shop with discernment. 

Print unplugs

We live in an always-on, device-driven era. While the world is at our fingertips, we are also at arm’s length from anyone and anything that demands our time and attention.

New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo shares how he ‘slow-jammed’ the news for two months. He switched off digital news notifications, logged out of Twitter and other social networks, and subscribed to three print newspapers, his local paper and a weekly news magazine.

The result, he says, was life changing. It reduced his anxiety. He was less addicted to news, and boasted more time on his hands. “Turning off the buzzing breaking-news machine I carry in my pocket was like unshackling myself from a monster who had me on speed dial, always ready to break into my day with half-baked bulletins,” said Manjoo.

Print is reliable

These “half-baked bulletins” – along with false and fake news – are exacerbated by social media and the rise of citizen journalism. A study by three MIT scholars found that false news spreads faster on Twitter than true stories do. And it’s humans, not bots who are the culprits. We like, excuse the pun, to retweet and share with abandon – often with little thought to the veracity of the content.

Print news brings with it authority and integrity. News might break on Twitter but it’s considered verified once in black ink on a white page, or at the very least, published on a reputable news site.

Print pervades

Newspapers are still here, although not a strong as before. Magazines still greet us as we push our trolleys to the tills. Have you walked into a bookstore recently? I wonder what the anti-paper naysayers are doing while they wait for the death knell for print to toll?

We enjoy print. In a 2019 survey of 1 070 UK adults, 64% agreed reading a printed book is more enjoyable than reading a book on an e-device. Younger generations are even described as the page turners of modern day. There is little else that compares to the joy of seeing one’s child relish a book.

Print grows young minds

Early childhood development specialists will tell you that early contact with books teaches children to respect and care for them, while physical contact with a book – turning the pages – creates engagement.

International children’s author Julia Donaldson refused an e-book version of her most famous title, The Gruffalo, in a 2011 article in the Guardian. “The publishers showed me an e-book of Alice in Wonderland,” Donaldson said.

“They said, ‘Look, you can press buttons and do this and that’, and they showed me the page where Alice’s neck gets longer,” she said. “There’s a button the child can press to make the neck stretch, and I thought, well, if the child’s doing that, they are not going to be listening or reading.”

Reading with engagement contributes towards auditory, sequencing and memory skills in little people. Importantly, it inspires a love of reading.

Print connects

While the Internet has enables us to share on social media and instant messaging, it has also taken away that excitement of opening the postbox to find something other than the electricity bill.

When I was a child, my parents used to receive Christmas cards by the dozen from friends and relatives abroad. My mother would hang sticky tape from the cornice and create vertical garlands of cards depicting red-breasted robins and snowy yuletide scenes. Today, she’s lucky if she gets more than 20.

Why not send some holiday cards this year? Remember to post early though.

Print is green

Digital communication is often greenwashed. It’s touted as better for the environment. “It saves trees.” No it does not. In South Africa, paper, timber and cellulose products come from sustainably managed plantations. Our country has 840 million trees planted over 693 000 hectares for the manufacture of pulp and paper products. 

Trees are not “killed” to make paper – they are harvested and replanted. Simply put, they are a crop – much like the grain in your breakfast cereal this morning. With only a small portion harvested annually and then replanted in the same year, paper and wood products are a renewable resource.

Wood, and by extension paper, is a carbon storage mechanism – it locks up the carbon, absorbed as carbon dioxide by the tree. The carbon would only be released if the paper decays or is incinerated.

Paper is also recyclable, and widely recycled around the world. By recycling paper, we are able to keep those carbon atoms locked up for longer!

I challenge any tech companies to try and match these credentials.

While mobile phones and digital communication bring convenience and connectivity, they also consume energy. Our multi-megabyte emails, WhatsApps and tweets travelling through the ether all have a carbon footprint. We just don’t see it.

Print is special

Scott Manson says in an article for the Publishing Research Council that print offers a more personal feel. “There’s a feeling when you pick up a really well-produced print product that love and craftsmanship have gone into, and you can see and feel the production values.”

Executed well, print and paper can cut through the clutter. There are no pop-up ads. It’s safe and tangible.

Print has tenacity. It has survived for centuries and it is not going to die anytime soon. Thank Gutenburg.

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It's #InternationalFlowerDay. Who doesn't love flo It's #InternationalFlowerDay. Who doesn't love flowers? 

Brighten someone's day by sharing one of these images or tagging them in the comments.
From us to you, we wish you a blessed break howeve From us to you, we wish you a blessed break however you will be celebrating. Be safe. Thank you for your support in 2020. See you on the flip side.
It's #WorldToiletDay. Next time you flush, give th It's #WorldToiletDay. Next time you flush, give thanks. Some 4.2 billion people are currently living without access to safely managed sanitation. While you're at it, give thanks for #toiletpaper too.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#sanitation #water #health #humanrights #toilets #toilet
Hands up who has a pile of books this high next to Hands up who has a pile of books this high next to their bed?  What's at the top?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#reading #bookquotes #bookday #writerswrite #readmore #bookclub #thepaperstory #readersread #instabook #authors #bedsidebooks #lovebooks #paperbooks #realbooks #print #printisalive #library⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It's Friday. Remember, now is not the time for wil It's Friday. Remember, now is not the time for wild rumpus. Wear your mask. Keep your distance. Wash those hands! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#weekend #reading #bookquotes #bookday #writerswrite #readmore #bookclub #thepaperstory #readersread #instabook #authors #mauricesendak #literature #lovebooks #wearyourmask
“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re b “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Here's wishing the Matric Class of 2020 all the best as they write their exams around the country. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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What are we reading and drinking today? #sundayvib What are we reading and drinking today? #sundayvibes #reading #tea #coffee #rainyday #rainysunday #books

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The humble #egg carton was invented in 1911 by new The humble #egg carton was invented in 1911 by newspaper editor Joseph Coyle of Smithers, British Columbia, Canada, to solve a dispute between a local farmer and hotel owner in Aldermere, near present-day Telkwa, over the farmer's eggs' often being delivered broken. 🥚

#thepaperstory
#history 
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“The earth laughs in flowers.” ― Ralph Wald “The earth laughs in flowers.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

#thursdaymotivation #thepaperstory #eggboxcrafts #papercrafting #papercrafts #paper #recycledpaper
When we begin to see plantation forests as tree fa When we begin to see plantation forests as tree farms or crops, we can appreciate the products, economic and environmental service they provide. Sustainable forestry ensures that the renewable resource of wood is produced responsibly. 

Watch our video. Link in bio. 

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Wood. There is no rival. What other material encou Wood. There is no rival. What other material encourages sustainable forestry, #tree planting and #carbon storage? 

#wood
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#thepaperstory
What's your favourite #magazine title? Do you have What's your favourite #magazine title? Do you have volumes of them stashed away? 

#print #magazines #printing #publishing #thepaperstory #paper
It’s #internationalprintday. Did you know that w It’s #internationalprintday. Did you know that we are printing less and this has unintended consequences on the economy and the environment? Link in bio. 

#print #paper #sustainable #printisnotdead #paperisgreater #paperisgreen #environment #earth #economy #ipd20
Do you feel guilty about printing? You shouldn't. Do you feel guilty about printing? You shouldn't. 

By using South African produced paper, you can be assured that it comes from sustainably farmed trees. The trees used to make this paper have been replaced by new trees. And always recycle your paper. It is used to make tissue and packaging products!

#paper #print #officepaper #printing #fsc #sustainable #buylocal #supportlocalbusiness #whitepaper #thepaperstory #recycle
Moulded paper fibre keeps eggs cushioned, coffee f Moulded paper fibre keeps eggs cushioned, coffee from spilling over and electronic goods protected. These packaging products are made from recycled fibre so keep them in the recycling loop by keep your paper and boxes clean, dry and separate! ♻️

(Some collectors might not take these items for recycling but you can use these in compost, for planting seeds and for paper crafts.)

#packaging #packagingprotects #paperpackaging #paper #mouldedfibrepackaging #eggs #electonics #coffee #thepaperstory #recycleyourpaper
What are we reading today? Paper books still rule, What are we reading today? Paper books still rule, don't you think? 

#paper #paperbooks #reading #book #booklove #paperlove #judgeabookbyitscover #literature #readingaddict
What are we baking this weekend? Whatever it is, t What are we baking this weekend? Whatever it is, think about how paper is part of your kitchen. It will be paper made from recycled fibre or from the wood of sustainably farmed trees. Now that's guilt-free baking! 

#baking #packaging #foodpackaging #recycledmaterials #recycle #recycleplease #paper #thepaperstory
🧻 Did you know that South African toilet paper 🧻 Did you know that South African toilet paper manufacturers make use of recycled office paper in many of their tissue recipes? 📄 Recycled white paper is a valuable grade for collectors so think before you throw. Keep it clean, dry and separate from other waste and recyclables. 

#tissue #toiletpaper #recycle #officepaper #paper #print #recyclethatpaper #thepaperstory
For the South African pulp and paper sector, respo For the South African pulp and paper sector, responsibly sourced woodfibre is a non-negotiable. 

This is why “Forests for All Together” - @fsc_international’s theme for this year’s #fscfriday - means so much. 

As a sector we are celebrating the importance of bringing people together to responsibly care for forests – from environmentalists to big business, from Indigenous Peoples to communities and governments, from forest workers to careful consumers, it is essential that we work together to care for our forests. 

Buy locally produced paper as far as possible and check the source. 

#forestryfriday #forestrylife #paper #pulp #fsc #sustainableforestry #environment
Are you a copy paper hoarder? Paper is a highly re Are you a copy paper hoarder? Paper is a highly recyclable product and helps the sector make new paper products that you use everyday: tissue and paper packaging. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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