NOPA show: accent on truth in recycling - National Office Products Association

Discount Store News, Nov 5, 1990 by Pete Hisey

NOPA Show: Accent On Truth in Recycling

CHICAGO - The predominant theme at this year's National Office Products Association show was conservation, both in terms of natural resources and human resources.

At the same time, the show took on a distinctly mass market flavor, as the number of independent dealers dropped sharply, with a concurrent rise in attendance by executives of office superstore chains.

Well over a dozen vendors introduced product lines manufactured from recycled resources. This, of course, follows a national trend, but at this show, the accent was firmly on post-consumer waste, the latest "green" buzzword, rather than industrial scrap as a production source.

The most dramatic example: Acme United introduced the Kleen Earth line of rulers, shears and scissors fabricated from ground-up fast food (mainly McDonald's) foam plastic packaging. According to the company, sales were brisk.

However, the most significant moves came from the paper industry, where suppliers like Esselte Pendaflex, Stuart Hall, Westvaco, Tops Business Forms and others introduced lines of stationery, folders, adding machine rolls, business forms and other paper products made from 100% recycled goods, with the percentage of post-consumer waste ranging from 10% to 100%.

Catalogers, on the whole, accepted these products with more enthusiasm than did retailers. WORKplace's Jim Nakumura, executive vice president, merchandise and advertising, noted that such products will require "double inventory." That's because vendors (with the exception of House of Doolittle) chose to introduce supplementary lines, rather than replace virgin goods with recycled products.

However, Office Depot general merchandise manager Art Quintana, who will sell lines by Esselte and Westvaco, said it was "too early to tell" if this will be a problem.

"Customers, particularly younger ones, are asking for these products," Quintana said. "We'll see how the customer reacts, but it looks like this [dedication to the environment] is real, that it will last a lot longer than it did during the gas shortages in the '70s."

He added that packaging is a key in this emerging market. "Esselte did a great job [with its Earth Wise line of folders and hanging folders]," he said. "The packaging gives a great `earth' feeling."

Apart from double inventory problems, most recycled goods carry a premium price of 5% to 10% extra, and sometimes more, and there are questions about durability. Quintana noted that the price/quality ratio is a concern. "We don't know how much extra people are willing to pay, and the products have to be at least as durable as virgin ones, or customers won't come back."

WORKplace's Nakamura concurred. "We all want to do our bit, retailers and consumers alike, but the consumer will not pay more for what is perceived as less." Apart from the extra cost upfront, some recycled products have hidden costs, like computer paper that wears out printer ribbons 20% to 30% faster than conventional paper.

Other approaches to environmentally friendly products included Spectrum's Tie & Toss newspaper recycling station; a reusable fax cover sheet from WTI; a stapleless stapler from Paperlok; the Ecologic paper recycling system from Fellowes; bulk packaging that doubles as a display case from Fiskars; and CFC-free aerosol dusters from Perfect Data.

In addition to preserving natural resources, companies are giving thought to preserving their employees. Repetitive stress injuries, like carpal tunnel syndrome, are emerging as a health crisis (and a potentially expensive one for employers, both in the sense of insurance costs and replacement of employees), so the availability of products aimed at alleviating and/or preventing symptoms has considerable retail appeal.

Mead-Hatcher showed a new line of adjustable keyboard drawers, installations and workstations that will allow computer users to adjust their keyboards to the most comfortable position and billed these products as "the answer to carpal tunnel syndrome."

O'Sullivan has dropped the level of its keyboard surfaces on a new line of desks, again in response to the problem, and introduced an ingenious workstation that not only lowers the keyboard via a sliding drawer, but also places the monitor below the keyboard inside the workstation, so that users don't have to look up repeatedly.

And, Global Chairs debuted a set of office chairs that incorporate a medical back brace, pneumatic height and posture controls, and waterfall drop-off for better circulation to provide state-of-the-art protection for computer-users. The cost is high, up to $875, and a company representative was in the midst of noting that the product would not appear in the mass market when two Office Depot buyers approached, wondering how many colors were available.