Notebooks & Journals

Material Composition Assumptions

The default bill of materials for a representative A5 notebook (80 pages, approximately 200 g total) includes:

• Interior paper pages: Approximately 120–140 g per unit for an 80-page notebook (160 sides). Standard ruled paper is typically 70–80 gsm (grams per square metre) uncoated wood-free (UWF) grade, produced from bleached chemical (kraft) pulp. Virgin pulp carries an emission factor of approximately 1.0–1.5 kgCO2e/kg at cradle-to-gate; recycled-content paper at 40–60% post-consumer waste (PCW) is approximately 0.7–1.0 kgCO2e/kg.
• Cover board: Approximately 40–50 g per unit. Covers are typically 300–400 gsm greyboard, chipboard, or cardstock — often lined with a printed paper wrap or laminate. Greyboard is generally recycled-content (70–90% PCW), while premium softcover and hardcover notebooks may use virgin duplex board with a printed outer layer. Emission factor: 0.8–1.2 kgCO2e/kg depending on virgin content and lamination.
• Spiral wire binding: Approximately 10–20 g per unit for wire-o or coil binding (galvanised cold-drawn steel wire). Primary cold-drawn wire: ~2.0–2.5 kgCO2e/kg. EAF-produced wire from recycled scrap: ~0.8–1.2 kgCO2e/kg. Some notebooks use a plastic coil (polypropylene) at approximately 1.8–2.5 kgCO2e/kg — marginally lower than steel but with worse recyclability.
• Adhesive binding (perfect-bound or sewn-case): Approximately 2–5 g of hot-melt EVA adhesive per unit, estimated at 2.0–3.5 kgCO2e/kg. Used in softcover or hardcover case-bound journals.
• Printing inks and ruling: Approximately 1–3 g of ink per unit for line ruling and cover printing. Offset lithographic inks are mineral oil or vegetable oil based with pigment concentrates; emission factor approximately 3–6 kgCO2e/kg.
• Retail packaging: Typically minimal for individual notebooks (kraft paper band or polybag); more significant for multipack formats. Assumed at approximately 5–10 g per unit.

The CCI score of 0.8 kgCO2e per unit represents a mid-range estimate for a standard A5 80-page spiral-bound or perfect-bound notebook using predominantly virgin interior paper and a greyboard cover, manufactured in a global-average-intensity grid. The per-kg score of 4.0 kgCO2e/kg reflects the blended footprint intensity of these materials — higher than bulk paper (~1.1 kgCO2e/kg) because precision binding materials (steel wire, adhesive), printing inks, and cover lamination all carry higher emission factors than plain paper.

Why the Score Is What It Is

Notebooks sit at a moderately high position on the per-kg emissions scale for stationery because they are an assembled product combining paper (moderate emission intensity) with several higher-intensity components — steel wire, adhesive, printed covers — that add emissions disproportionate to their mass.

Paper pulp production is the dominant hotspot at approximately 40% of total emissions. Chemical kraft pulping dissolves lignin from wood chips using sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphide at high temperatures, generating significant steam demand — traditionally met by burning black liquor (a biomass by-product) but also requiring fossil fuel supplementation in many mills. Bleaching sequences (ECF or TCF) add chemical inputs. The paper machine itself is electricity-intensive for pressing, drying, and calendering. A 200 g notebook contains approximately 130–140 g of paper, and at 1.0–1.5 kgCO2e/kg for virgin uncoated wood-free paper, this single component represents 0.13–0.21 kgCO2e before any other materials are considered.

Cover board production contributes approximately 20% of total emissions. While greyboard is typically high in recycled content (reducing its per-kg footprint relative to virgin paper), the cover often receives additional processing: lamination with a PET or polypropylene film for a glossy or matte finish, offset printing in multiple colours, and edge-trimming. Laminated covers are difficult to recycle and add a small but non-trivial plastics component to the product’s material profile.

Binding materials account for approximately 15% of the footprint. Spiral wire binding uses more material by mass than perfect-bound adhesive, but steel’s higher emission factor makes it a meaningful contributor even at 10–15 g per notebook. Perfect-bound and Smyth-sewn notebooks replace steel with hot-melt adhesive and thread — lower-intensity alternatives that reduce this hotspot by roughly half. Premium leather-covered or cloth-covered journals (common in the journaling/planner market) add additional material mass and emissions in the cover construction.

Printing and ruling operations represent approximately 15% of total emissions, driven primarily by factory electricity consumption in the printing and ruling presses. Line ruling (typically flexographic or offset) and multi-colour cover printing both draw significant press energy. The Scope 2 contribution is therefore meaningfully higher in this category than in plain paper or cardboard, because the converting and printing stage is an integral part of notebook manufacturing rather than a downstream step.

Packaging and logistics contribute approximately 10%. Most notebooks are shipped in cardboard cases with minimal outer packaging per unit. Transport from major manufacturing regions (China, India, EU) adds to this total, with China-to-EU or China-to-USA ocean freight contributing approximately 0.01–0.02 kgCO2e per unit at typical product weights and container fill rates.

The scope split reflects the upstream-dominated nature of paper manufacturing: Scope 3 accounts for approximately 68% of the total footprint (raw materials across paper, board, wire, ink), Scope 2 for approximately 22% (press and mill electricity), and Scope 1 for approximately 10% (on-site fuel use at mills and converting facilities).

What Drives Variation

The per-unit footprint of a notebook or journal can vary substantially — from approximately 0.3 kgCO2e for a small, recycled-content, minimally packaged notepad to over 2.0 kgCO2e for a large, hardcover, leather-wrapped, gilded-edge journal.

Paper format and page count: A5 80-page notebooks weigh approximately 200 g; A4 200-page notebooks may weigh 600–800 g. The score scales roughly linearly with paper mass — an A4 200-page notebook would be expected to carry a footprint of approximately 1.5–2.5 kgCO2e. Small pocket notebooks (A6, 50 pages, ~60 g) may carry as little as 0.2–0.3 kgCO2e per unit.

Virgin versus recycled paper content: Switching the interior paper from virgin kraft to 100% post-consumer recycled content can reduce the paper sub-score by 25–40% — approximately 0.05–0.10 kgCO2e per unit at A5 80-page format. FSC-certified virgin paper carries a lower land-use change risk than uncertified virgin paper, though within the CCI methodology the primary effect of certification is confidence weighting rather than a score reduction.

Cover construction and lamination: An unlaminated kraft paper cover (common in eco-positioned products such as Leuchtturm1917 Eco or Muji recycled notebooks) reduces the cover contribution by eliminating the PET film lamination and simplifying printing. A full PU-leather or genuine leather cover, by contrast, adds 30–80 g of animal-derived or synthetic material at a substantially higher emission factor, potentially doubling the cover hotspot.

Binding type: Wire-o or coil-bound notebooks (steel or plastic spiral) carry a higher binding footprint than perfect-bound (glued) or saddle-stitched notebooks. Transitioning from steel spiral to recycled-content adhesive binding can reduce the binding hotspot by 50–70%.

Manufacturing geography and grid intensity: Notebook manufacturing is heavily concentrated in China (Mead, Oxford, Pukka Pad manufacturing partners; private-label production for European and North American retailers) and India (handmade paper notebooks, significant export to EU and USA). China’s grid at ~565 gCO2e/kWh and India’s at ~700 gCO2e/kWh are substantially more carbon-intensive than EU production at ~300 gCO2e/kWh. For a product where Scope 2 represents approximately 22% of total emissions, this differential can shift the score by 10–20% depending on the primary manufacturing source.

Forestry certification and pulp sourcing: Notebooks carrying FSC-certified or PEFC-certified paper sourced from well-managed forests in Scandinavia or North America have verifiably lower upstream land-use change risk and often lower Scope 1 mill emissions (Nordic mills use substantial biomass energy). The emission factor differential between FSC-certified Nordic pulp and uncertified tropical pulp can be 30–50% for the paper component.

Premium and specialist formats: Dotted, graph, and Traveller’s Notebook formats tend to have similar paper mass to ruled equivalents. However, premium products like the Moleskine Classic or Leuchtturm1917 use heavier paper stock (100–120 gsm interior versus standard 70–80 gsm) and more substantial board covers, increasing the per-unit footprint by 20–40% versus a standard budget notebook at the same page count. Hardcover case-bound journals add additional chipboard and cloth or paper case lining material.

Recycled-cover options: Notebooks with covers made from recycled denim, cork, or recycled plastic (e.g., some Paperblanks or Dingbats Earth editions) replace the chipboard-plus-laminate cover stack with an alternative material. These typically carry lower emission factors than virgin duplex board with plastic lamination, though the range is wide and supplier-specific data is rarely publicly available.