Stone paper sounds almost too good to be true. Paper made from stone, without trees, without water, and you can erase and reuse it. Is there a catch? In this article we explain what stone paper is, what it is made of, how it compares to regular paper, and where the honest limitations lie.
We are the makers of MOYU and use stone paper ourselves for our notebooks. That gives us expertise but also a vested interest. So in this article we work with independent figures and certifications, and we also name where stone paper is not perfect.
Stone paper is a type of paper made mostly from limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO3) combined with a small percentage of plastic as a binder. At MOYU the ratio is 80% limestone and 20% HDPE (high-density polyethylene).
The limestone comes from quarries where it is normally left over as a waste product from the extraction of other materials. It is ground into a fine powder and then extruded with the HDPE into thin sheets. No trees, no water, no bleach.
The result is a paper that feels like regular paper in the hand, only slightly sturdier and smoother. It is water-resistant, tear-resistant and, in MOYU notebooks, erasable up to 500 times.
Traditional paper is made from wood pulp, with a production process that uses a lot of water, energy and chemicals. According to industry estimates it takes around 10,000 liters of water to make one ream of A4 paper (500 sheets). For stone paper that is 0 liters in production itself.
Energy is another story. Stone paper production uses around 67% less energy than wood pulp paper, according to publications from the stone paper industry. CO2 emissions are correspondingly lower: in our own Life Cycle Assessment (ISO 14040/14044, conducted by Tessa Mouw in 2024) we come out at 0.37 kg CO2-equivalent per MOYU notebook, compared to 6.00 kg for an equivalent quantity of paper notebooks. That is 94% less.
People who use stone paper for the first time are often surprised that it really feels like paper. It is not a plastic sheet, not a whiteboard-like surface. It writes smoothly and the ink dries quickly. With a special pen (like the MOYU pen or a Pilot FriXion) you can erase it with a damp cloth.
A MOYU stone paper notebook replaces approximately 15 paper notebooks measured over a 3-year use period. That saves raw materials and is often also cheaper in the long run.
This is the question we get most often, and the honest version of the answer has three sides.
We believe honesty is stronger than greenwashing, so the honest points:
MOYU has set up the Stone Paper Alliance to build a European stone paper recycling infrastructure, with a target operational date of 2027. In addition, customers can send used MOYU notebooks back to us for processing through our Recycling Program.
Below the figures from our LCA, side by side. Functional unit: one A5 notebook used over a 3-year period (for MOYU one notebook, for pulp 15 notebooks to cover the same note volume).
Stone paper gradually breaks down under UV light and rain as the HDPE becomes more porous and the limestone is released. In controlled environments, like a waste processor, it is normally incinerated with energy recovery. It is not biodegradable in the strict sense (compostable in nature), but the limestone part eventually returns to nature as ordinary mineral.
Yes, and in a special way. The material itself is cradle-to-cradle: from old stone paper sheets you can make pellets again and produce new stone paper directly. At our supplier's factory this already happens, cutting offcuts go back to the palletizer and are reprocessed into paper. But for the end-user in Europe there is no large-scale return system yet. MOYU is working on such a system through the Stone Paper Alliance for 2027. Until then you can send your old MOYU notebooks back to us.
Stone paper is REACH, ROHS and FDA certified by the supplier. It contains none of the chemicals usually found in paper (chlorine, bleach).
Yes. You can wipe off rain, coffee stains or a spilled glass of water without the paper warping. Long submersion in water is not recommended, and the ink on the page is water-dependently erasable.
Most customers say it feels almost identical to paper, with slightly more glide. It is not a whiteboard-like experience and it is not a plastic sheet. The ink dries slightly more slowly than on regular paper (10-12 seconds).
Stone paper works well for:
It is less suitable for situations where you need to keep notes permanently in physical form, because the whole point is that you erase. But you can scan for digital storage.
Stone paper is not a perfect solution, but it is a measurably better solution than wood pulp paper for reusable notebooks. The numbers (94% less CO2, 0 water in production, no trees) are substantiated with an ISO-compliant LCA. The honest limitations (transport from Taiwan, no consumer-facing recycling stream in Europe yet, not 100% plastic-free) are also named.
More technical details about stone paper can be found at moyu-notebooks.com/about/stone-paper. For companies that need concrete impact figures per order (Scope 3 reporting) you can create your own impact certificate at moyu-notebooks.com/nl/zakelijk/impact-certificate.