Recycled paper characteristics

Amount of post-consumer waste (tested up to 100 percent post-consumer waste content).

Temperature and humidity conditions. (Testing chambers simulate climates from all over the world.)

Moisture content. (Business papers should have low moisture: 4–5 percent.)

Bending resistance and proper stiffness means optimum feeding through the printer.

Thickness (impacts how much can be loaded into a tray).

Surface roughness (measured in Sheffield units; impacts print clarity and how well toner fuses to the paper).

Surface friction (determines how easily sheets can be separated).

Grain and formation (impacts curling, which also influences the mechanics of how the paper behaves as it moves through the printer).

Brightness and texture (look and feel).