Printing technician Hunter Bliss founded the Pebble Printing Group in Shenzhen, China: The company develops paper made from STEIN and sells it to publishers. It consists of 80 percent crushed marble and is said to be less expensive than paper made from wood.
An eco-friendly alternative to conventional paper
Hunter Bliss moved from the U.S. to Germany at the age of 18 to study physics, printing technology, and later Chinese in Mannheim, Munich, and Stuttgart. He then went to China, where research and development of stone paper was being aggressively pursued due to steadily rising paper consumption. Bliss founded the Pebble Printing Group, through which he produces and distributes stone paper.
According to the entrepreneur, it is the most environmentally friendly alternative to conventional paper because stone powder replaces wood as the raw material, and water and energy consumption are much lower: “It replaces vital resources with abundant inorganic components that can sustain the paper industry for centuries. And with greater recyclability than conventional paper, stone paper is the key to a circular economy.”
Bliss aims to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 70 percent compared to “traditional” paper production. Production costs are also up to 50 percent lower. Stone paper consists of 80 percent crushed marble and 20 percent high-density polyethylene. It is about 20 percent heavier than paper made from wood fibers, tear-resistant, waterproof, and requires less ink when printed.
Reducing Global Plastic Consumption
One of Bliss’s visions is to revolutionize the packaging industry with stone paper and make it more resource-efficient: The entrepreneur estimates that global plastic consumption could be reduced by 80 percent through the use of stone paper. In the future, he plans to develop additional types of stone paper, for example with larger stone particles, to make individual sheets lighter.
His plan for the next five years: to become the leading producer of stone paper in Europe. He aims to bring together the entire value chain for this in every country—for example, by printing in Germany and manufacturing the necessary printing presses there. He sells his paper with a certification ID that precisely documents the printing specifications, the amount of resources saved, and the recycling process.
