Guide to Carbonless Paper

Brief History of Carbonless Paper

Invented in 1953 by NCR Company (who invented the electric typewriter, ATM’s and LCD) and Appleton Coated Paper Company (now NCR Corporation and Appleton respectively), carbonless paper has been on the market since 1954. It was invented as an alternative to carbon paper; carbonless paper took up half the space and was more precise. It became increasingly popular through the 1970’s, and by the late 1980’s, Appleton’s carbonless sales reached $900M, a direct result of both the growing environmental movement and sound investing.

How Carbonless Paper Works

Consider a standard 2-part carbonless form. The back of the top page is coated with micro-encapsulated dye. The front of the bottom page is coated in reactive clay. When pressure is applied to the top page the micro-capsules of dye break, releasing the dye which then reacts with the clay, creating a permanent mark. The capsules of dye are so small (thus the name micro-encapsulation) that the mark printed is very precise – therefore the switch from carbon based forms to carbonless forms does not affect the quality of the duplicate. In most cases, carbonless paper is actually preferred for its precision (providing you purchase it from a quality carbonless dealer). For a 3-part form, the micro-encapsulated dye is again coated on the back of the top sheet. The front of the middle or ‘sandwich’ sheet is coated on both sides: the front with reactive clay and the back with micro-encapsulated dye. The bottom sheet is front- coated with reactive clay. Printing on the top sheet will provide duplicates on the next two sheets. With 2-part, 3-part and 4-part forms (and so on), there is no coating on the front of the top page or the back of the bottom page. Here is another helpful article on how carbonless paper works.

Carbonless Paper and the Environment

Recycling and waste reduction has become a large part of the environmental movement that, at its peak in the late 1980’s and throughout the 1990’s, changed the way people think and ultimately changed business and industry. Eco-friendly products were being labelled and produced at an unprecedented rate. Companies were scrambling to make their products ‘earth friendly’ and biodegradable. Some industries were hit harder than others, and the paper industry, already suffering losses from the exponential growth of email and other e-communication, was one of these industries. Carbonless paper is an environmentally friendly choice simply because it does now require a sheet of carbon paper for every copy, significantly decreases landfill space. With the advent of biodegradable paper, many companies now sell carbonless paper with up to 50% reused post-consumer waste including the coating. Big businesses, under the pressure of becoming eco-friendly are switching to carbon paper, saving millions of tons of landfill space each year. Small business worldwide, adhering to the environmental trend, are switching as well making carbonless paper a huge contributor to earth friendly practices on global scale. In 1993, Mitsubishi Paper Mills, also producing carbonless paper, was awarded the coveted Nordic Swan Certification for its carbonless paper – one of the most demanding Eco-labels in the International Paper industry.

The Survival of Carbonless Paper

Although environmentalism is, arguably, not at its peak for awareness and practice, it is safe to say the all big businesses are concerned with at least portraying their eco-friendly practices and will take measures to label themselves as such. Thus, the switch to carbonless paper is an easy and inexpensive way for big business to ‘do their part’ – because of this, it stands to reason that carbonless paper will be around for a long time to come.

Jed Fleury is a Marketing Professional who uses his client experiences as a source for Article Writing. Thanks to NCRForms.com for providing insight for this Carbonless Paper article.