Both adult and children's editions of the latest instalment of the novels by JK Rowling have been printed on paper containing 10% and 20% post-consumer waste respectively.

A spokeswoman for Bloomsbury said the decision to print on part recycled papers had been taken in line with the company's environmentally responsible paper procurement policy.

She said the policy had been in place for some 17 years. "The paperbacks were printed on papers produced from wood grown in well-managed and reputable sites, which does not come from high conservation value, ancient or endangered forests," she added.

The move follows Greenpeace's "Book" campaign, which aimed to phase out the use of ancient fibre materials for book production and move towards the use of recycled or certified papers (PrintWeek, 15 April).

A number of UK authors supported the initiative, including JK Rowling, Helen Fielding and Ian Rankin.

Greenpeace UK forest campaigner Belinda Fletcher said the announcement by Bloomsbury was a very positive step: "It's a good move forward but there's still a very long way to go."

Bloomsbury becomes Rowling's third publisher globally to include recycled and/or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) fibre content in its books.

The Canadian hardback edition of Order of the Phoenix co-published by Raincoast Books and Bloomsbury last year was printed on 100% post consumer, processed chlorine-free paper.

The Italian hardback edition, published by Salani, was printed on paper that included 30% FSC-certified virgin fibre.