The latest edition of Canadian Geographic Magazine is printed on paper made from wheat-straw waste using technologies developed by the Edmonton-based Alberta Research Council (ARC).

The magazine is testing the commercial viability of paper made from wheat waste. The June edition, is described as the first North American magazine printed on wheat-straw paper.

“The paper, known as the Wheat Sheet, demonstrates that high-quality magazine-grade paper can be made from fiber other than wood pulp, which is the only fiber that pulp and paper mills in Canada currently use,” the news release said.

The paper contains 20 per cent wheat straw, 40% recycled fiber content and 40% wood pulp.

“Our June issue uses 60 per cent less trees but looks and feels just like any other issue of Canadian Geographic,” said editor-in-chief Rick Boychuk. “We’re delighted by this paper’s performance and hope it will be more widely available for North American publishers soon.”

ARC began studying pulping technologies for agricultural fibers such as wheat straw 10 years ago. “We’re working with the pulp and paper industry to explore additional opportunities to create new agriculturally-based pulps that can satisfy the growing market demand for environmentally friendly paper,” said Wade Chute, head of ARC’s pulp-paper program.