Copies of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." The 12 million US editions of the seventh and last Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," are to be printed on partially recycled paper.[AFP]

The 12 million US editions of the seventh and last Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," are to be printed on partially recycled paper, the book's publisher Scholastic said Tuesday.

The books, to be released on July 21, "will be printed on paper that contains a minimum of 30 percent post-consumer waste fiber," Scholastic said in a statement.

The statement added that 65 percent of the 16,700 tons of paper used in the printing will be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, a Washington-based civic group that promotes sustainable forest management.

Scholastic said its decision to "invest in environmentally preferable paper" in printing the 784-page tome marked a "significant step in the company's ongoing commitment to responsible environmental stewardship."

The book is to be the final installment of J.K. Rowling's massively popular series featuring the schoolboy wizard.

The first six books in the Potter series have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide and been translated into 63 languages, making Rowling, 41, Britain's highest-earning woman.