This standard identified the specific properties of such paper and specified the tests required to demonstrate these properties. This standard applies to coated and uncoated paper used in the production of publications and documents acquired and retained by libraries and archives. The first result is an international standard for permanent paper. Several sectors of the paper market, however, discourage wider use or availability of acid-free paper. One reason is cost.
Alkalinity is just one factor that goes into the pricing of paper.
In addition, mills have little incentive to change because book paper accounts for only about 5 percent of the annual total 20.5 million-ton paper for the printing market. On the other hand, plants making alkaline paper produce less pollution then their acid counterparts. And in some cases, alkaline paper is competitive in price with acid stock. An additional question is what incentive publishers would have to use acid-free paper when the Library of Congress plans to deacidify new books anyway. Other governments, including many states, answered the brittle book problem by passing statutes to require the use of permanent paper for official documents.