At a discussion forum on 17 April at The Ritz, London, it claimed that lightweight paper would solve the problems of the weight and bulkiness of publications such as catalogues.

Keith Rousell, manager for Northern Europe and South America, said: “We are on a worldwide campaign to highlight that there is no reason why you can’t go down in grammage. The fears are unfounded.”

The division has a turnover of £74m (€110m), and two production sites in Haute-Savoie and Vosges, France. It produces grades ranging from 22-65gsm, and is the only woodfree, ‘thin print’ paper that is FCS-certified.

According to the firm, it is the only manufacturer of 22gsm, which it said had no impact on print result, higher opacity levels and high whiteness.

Rousell said: “Everyone is aware of their environmental responsibility now. There’s a lot of pride in the way they manufacture their papers.”

Peter Sommerville, marketing director at merchant Denmaur, who attended the event, said: “I think the message that using lighter weight paper will save energy in production and transport makes entire sense.

“As for dropping down in weight, there has to be compromise on quality but that is where there has to be an educational process,” he said.

The Bolloré Group is a player in plastic films for capacitors and packaging, thin papers, transportation in Africa and international logis­tics. Its turnover is £4bn.