Newsprint
Newsprint is a lightweight, low-cost paper made primarily from mechanical pulp, used for newspapers, freebie publications, and increasingly as protective packaging void fill. It is typically 40 to 52 gsm.
Mechanical pulp is the primary fibre source, sometimes blended with a small percentage of recycled fibre or virgin kraft. The mechanical-pulp content keeps costs low and yields high, at the price of yellowing over weeks of exposure to sunlight.
Common basis weights are 40-49 gsm in North America and slightly higher in Europe. Brightness ranges from 55-65 — well below printing papers, which makes newsprint instantly distinguishable from copy paper or magazine stock.
Newspaper consumption has declined for two decades, and newsprint capacity has consolidated dramatically as a result. New end uses — most notably as packaging void fill for e-commerce shipments — have absorbed some of the displaced capacity.
Related terms
- Basis weightBasis weight is the standard measure of paper weight in the U.S., expressed in pounds per 3,000 square feet of a grade's parent sheet. Elsewhere it is reported as grams per square metre (gsm).
- Mechanical pulpMechanical pulp is pulp produced by grinding or refining wood physically rather than dissolving the lignin with chemicals. It retains nearly all of the wood's mass — high yield, low cost — at the price of shorter fibres and remaining lignin.
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