Office Paper - Why not Just recycle ?

Paper is often the target of negative and misinformed environmental

criticism. We hear stories of shrinking rainforests, excessive

energy consumption and our waste being dumped into already

overflowing landfill sites. Yes, paper does use trees, it uses energy

to produce and can end up in landfill, but it is also one of the few

truly renewable and recyclable raw materials we have.

Forest habitat, the size of 30 football pitches, are destroyed every

minute around the world. This equates to an area the size of Nepal

which is lost every year. The reasons for this destruction vary from

clearing areas for farming, forest fires, roads, urban sprawl, and

illegal logging. Only half of the timber harvested is used to make

paper products.

However, the papermaking industry depends on the planting of

forests for future harvesting. So for every tree cut down, three or

four are replanted in its place. It’s estimated that there are 25%

more trees in the developed world today than there were in 1901,

and in Europe alone, forests are increasing annually by an area

equivalent to more than 1.5 million football pitches.

It is important to remember that:-

• Paper production is not a major cause of deforestation

• Industrial wood, pulp and paper production saves and

creates forests

• Paper is a fully renewable and sustainable resource

• We plant more trees than we harvest for making paper

FSC (the Forest Stewardship Council)is an independent, non governmental,

not for profit organisation established to promote

the responsible management of the world’s forests. The FSC vision

is that the world’s forests meet the social, ecological and economic

rights and needs of the present generation without compromising

those of future generations...

• Prohibit conversion of forests or any other natural habitat

• Respect of international workers rights

• Prohibition of use of hazardous chemicals

• Respect of Human Rights with particular attention to

indigenous peoples

• No corruption – follow all applicable laws

• Identification and appropriate management of areas that

need special protection (e.g. cultural or sacred sites, habitat

of endangered animals or plants)

“The FSC’s mission is to improve the management of the world’s

forests. They have offices in more than 46 countries and provide

a standard setting trademark assurance and accreditation service

for companies and organisations interested in responsible forestry.

Products carrying the FSC label are independently certified to

assure consumers that they come from forests that are managed

to meet the social, economic and ecological needs of present and

future generations.”

Why not Just Recycle?

Paper recycling is one of the greatest environmental success stories

of recent years. Today, the average recycling rate across Europe is

over 60%, 50 million tonnes of paper each year. Paper fibres can

be recycled up to six times and recycling is the best way to keep

waste paper out of landfill. So paper has excellent credentials as

a renewable, sustainable and recyclable product, and managed

paper production has a positive environmental impact.

However, it is not necessarily true that recycled paper is always

better for the environment than virgin paper. For example, modern

paper mills, whose energy source is nuclear, hydro or internally

bio-fuelled, may well have a lower carbon footprint than a mill

making recycled paper, powered by fossil fuels.

For these reasons, it is very difficult to directly compare the

environmental impact of recycled and virgin fibre paper. Both virgin

and recycled paper products can therefore have an equally strong

environmental argument.

Forests are part of the cycle that helps remove CO2 from the

atmosphere. This extends from trees to wood and paper products,

which continue to store the carbon and help to reduce climate

change. Virgin fibre is always required to make recycled paper

possible in the first place.

The United Nation’s list of The world’s 100 most sustainable

companies includes eight representatives from the paper industry

(more than any other industry). The paper industry is one of the

biggest users of renewable, low carbon energy and half the energy

used to make paper in Europe comes from renewable sources.

Growing forests absorb carbon dioxide helping to counter the

Greenhouse Effect.