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July 30, 2007* – Xerox announced today the development of a new paper, Xerox High Yield Business Paper, for businesses and print shops. This mechanically produced, 17.7 lb. bond paper performs similarly to a heavier weight, 20 lb. bond paper, resulting in a lower cost per roll or ream. With opacity similar to a 24 lb. bond paper, consumers can expect better double-sided performance as well. Xerox High Yield Business Paper will be available for orders from August 1, 2007 from authorized resellers and the company website. The new Xerox Business paper’s lower weight but equivalent quality to a 20 lb. bond also potentially brings mailing costs down for customers typically using the heavier weight paper. The paper has a brightness rating of 84 on scale of 1 to 100 (with 100 being the brightest). Most laser papers are in the 90 to 96 brightness range. Xerox’s High Yield Business Paper is intended for short-life document use, such as bills, statements, and educational printing, not for archival purposes. The new paper is produced from pulp that has been mechanically ground from trees, utilizing 90% of the wood, or half as many trees as is used in the typical, chemical pulping process. In the chemical process, only 45 percent of the wood from processed trees is used, and it is extracted in a water and chemical solution. The rest typically goes to waste or is used as fuel to power the process. The mechanical process also uses less water and is conducted in a plant powered by hydroelectric energy sources, as opposed to the potentially more dangerous nuclear or more polluting coal-fired plants. In addition, the paper is whitened without the use of chlorine. Bruce Katz, a Xerox paper technologist, was able to solve the dust and curl problems that had plagued the development of this paper in the past. Because heat is applied to affix the ink to the paper in the toner printing process, mechanically separated paper tends to curl. (Mechanically separated paper is used regularly in the offset printing and newspaper industries, where no heat is used.) Katz determined that the paper curled because the fibers were distributed differently on the front and back of the surface, causing the paper to shrink unevenly. Katz tweaked the process to distribute the fibers more evenly, resulting in greatly reduced curl. In addition, dust is minimized by applying a surface coat to the paper at the plant. The new Xerox High Yield Business Paper works on many different digital printers, and it will be available in 10-ream cartons (500 sheets per ream) or in 40-inch and 50-inch diameter rolls. Xerox High Yield Business Paper will be available starting August 1, 2007 from authorized resellers and the company website.