Paper to Protect the Planet Understanding how recycled content in printing & writing paper – and all grades – reduces energy, water, chemical use, pollution and solid waste, while reducing damaging pressure on forests. Presented by is better for the planet: Which Recycled paper or virgin fiber paper? That’s easy: Using recycled paper is better for the environment than virgin paper, for all paper grades. To protect the planet, ask for packaging, newsprint, tissue products and printing & writing paper (including office and copy paper, magazines, stationery and printing paper) with recycled content. And which kind of recycled paper provides the most environmental benefits? Virgin Fiber vs. Recycled Copy Paper1 Printing & writing paper! Without recycled content, it uses the 1 ton virgin 1 ton 100% Environmental Savings most resources and creates the most fiber paper recycled paper from Recycled Content pollution. But with maximized recycled Trees 26 trees 0 trees 100% content, it goes the farthest towards protecting the earth. Energy 32 million BTUs 22 million BTUs 31% Wastewater 22,219 gallons 10,372 gallons 53% Solid waste 1,922 pounds 1,171 pounds 39% Then what’s the controversy? Some publishers, paper mills and consumers claim that we should only make recycled packaging, cardboard, newsprint and tissue products – So what’s the truth? and not recycled printing & writing papers. They argue: Current research2 proves that there are still millions of tons of paper “There’s a shortage of paper recovered in recycling programs that and packaging that are not collected nor recycled every year (nearly 30 manufacturers need to make new sheets of recycled paper...” million U.S. tons in 2010,3 with almost 16 million of those ending up in U.S. municipal solid waste landfills or incinerators4). “If there’s a shortage of recovered paper, then manufacturers Through improved sorting and collection, manufacturers can have enough should only make certain types of recycled paper...” recovered paper to include recycled content in all grades of paper. It is particularly important to use recycled content in the products that “It is best to use recycled content for products that require the use the most chemicals and energy because recycled content, especially least chemical and energy use, particularly cardboard in printing & writing papers, saves energy, water and resources, and also and packaging.” reduces greenhouse gases, chemical use, solid waste, pollution and toxics.5 Choosing Better Paper Compare Apples to Apples Reduce Waste, Most Important: Compare virgin fiber paper with recycled paper for the Maximize Fiber Efficiency same grade of paper. Comparing products made in the same production methods makes the environmental differences explicit. Dissimilar products Separating the fibers to make the pulp for papermaking takes are usually made with different paper production processes. For example, far more resources when derived directly from trees than copy paper is made very differently from cardboard and corrugated boxes, when recycled from recovered paper. In other words, making and magazine paper is made very differently from tissue products, all with recycled pulp derives paper fibers more efficiently, with less 7 different environmental implications. waste and requiring fewer resources, than making virgin pulp, even though the subsequent papermaking is the same. When comparing office papers or printing papers, you’ll find that recycled paper is better for the environment than virgin fiber paper. This is because, Amount of Material from start to finish, making printing & writing papers from wood fiber Type of Pulp Required to Produce Fiber Efficiency requires more processing than any other grades of paper and therefore 1 ton of Pulp creates the greatest environmental damage (e.g., higher energy and water Virgin Fiber Printing use)6. Making new paper instead from recovered paper significantly avoids & Writing Paper Pulp 4.4 tons much of the potential environmental damage, plus it returns resources to (Virgin Chemical/ of trees* 23% the production process instead of wasting them. Kraft Pulp) Recycled Printing and Writing Paper 1.4 tons Pulp (Recycled of 100% Know Chemical/Kraft Pulp) recovered paper 71% is made from tree fiber that either comes from natural is made from the paper forests or from tree plantations. In Canada, 90% of the collected from residential, timber harvest comes from old-growth and primary office, and commercial forests.7 Many books, as well as office and school recycling programs. Recycling Virgin Fiber paper products, are printed overseas in regions Recycled old paper into new paper Paper without environmental and forest harvesting standards minimizes solid waste, enforcement. Be sure that any virgin forest fiber in your Paper reduces the need to log paper is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council to trees, and recycles resources be certain that it’s not contributing to the destruction into new products instead of of forests worldwide. wasting them. Choose Paper That Protects Our Climate, Resources, Water and Land Energy Chemicals Water Solid Waste Producing recycled pulp reduces Recycled pulp requires fewer and saf- Virgin pulp and paper mills are the Buying recycled paper maintains and overall energy use by 31%, on av- er processing and bleaching chemi- largest industrial users and pol- strengthens the recycling system and erage, compared to mills making cals than those required to make vir- luters of water per ton of product keeps wastepaper out of landfills and virgin fiber chemical pulp.10 Paper gin wood pulp.11 Deinking recovered in the US.14 The Paper Calculator incinerators. When paper decomposes recycling greatly reduces green- fiber at recycled fine paper mills is shows that recycled pulp can cut in landfills, it produces methane, a house gas emissions. Reducing primarily a cleaning and mechani- wastewater discharges by more climate change gas with 25 times energy use also reduces global cal process using soaps, surfactants than half. the heat-trapping power of carbon warming pollution. and high pressure screens.12 In con- dioxide.15 The heavy metals in printing trast, wood pulp mills must use toxic inks can also pollute the groundwater, chemicals to break down wood fibers whether the paper is directly landfilled and then bring the brown fiber color or becomes incinerator ash.16 up to white.13 Q: But aren’t virgin paper mills Q: But doesn’t recycled paper need Q: Why should I worry about Q: But recycling programs report using less fossil fuels? strong bleach to get it white? wastewater? ever greater diversion from landfills.17 Hasn’t this solved the problem? A: Some virgin paper mills state A: Actually, because recovered pa- A: With some geographic areas A: Recycling is the most environmen- they are using less fossil fuel, per has already been bleached at already experiencing water short- tally responsible way to deal with dis- even though they are using least once, the deinking cleaning ages and water issues expected carded paper. Most importantly, it re- roughly the same amount of en- process requires far less bleaching to become increasingly problem- purposes the resources in the paper ergy as comparable mills. How is than making virgin paper, which must atic in the future, recycling can rather than trashing them, reusing the this possible? turn brown wood into white paper.19 play a critical role in reducing a strongest fibers to make new paper. Chemical pulping of trees It’s important to cut down on chlorine mill’s demand for water. However, “diverting” paper from land- extracts the useable fiber and based whitening methods because Depending on where they are fills is not, in and of itself, “recycling,” results in a leftover byproduct of bleaching with chlorinated chemis- located, paper mills’ heavy reli- which only happens when the materials water, chemicals and tree lignin tries can release dioxins that cause ance on process water may con- actually reach a manufacturer and can called black liquor. Black liquor cancer.20 tribute to water scarcity in those be used to make new products.22 Far and tree bark are burned in boil- All North American virgin print- regions. too much of today’s recovered paper is ers to generate energy in place of ing & writing mils use chlorine chem- In addition, the withdrawal too poorly sorted to be used to make some fossil fuels. Burning black istries for bleaching, but most similar and return of large amounts of wa- recycled printing & writing paper. liquor means consuming trees recycling mills do not. ter (often at different temperatures) More attention to sorting quality for energy which releases global from rivers and streams can have would support an expansion of true re- warming and other pollution.18 significant ecological impacts.21 cycling. Other ways to shrink the environmental footprint of Buy Recycled Paper your paper include: Paper purchasers will continue to play an important role in protecting the environment and • Following the EPN’s “Common Vision”25 climate by creating the demand for recycled paper. Doing so drives market forces to collect more to lower your environmental footprint by paper and sends a signal to manufacturers and investors that recycled paper is in demand and choosing the best environmental paper economically viable. available. • Making sure your paper’s virgin forest • Find the type of paper that works for you by visiting the Eco Paper Database (canopyplanet. fibers are certified by the Forest org/EPD) or Conservatree’s Environmental Paper Listings (www.conservatree.org). Stewardship Council. • Printing on eco-friendly recycled paper helps you stand out in the marketplace to the • Ensuring your paper is whitened without growing number of green consumers. For example, Better Paper Project promotions chlorine chemistries. (betterpaper.ning.com/page/promotions-1) highlight magazines that use recycled paper at • Using agricultural major bookstores and other retailers. residues if possible. • Recycling your paper — • Buying recycled paper supports green jobs.