• It requires
more energy to make recycled paper than new paper
False
and True! If we look at
the papermaking process alone, then it does indeed normally
take more energy to make paper from waste paper than from
pulp because of the extra cleaning involved, but ……..
pulp does not grow on trees! If we include all the other
energy requirements involved in turning wood chips into
pulp, the making of recycled paper leads to energy savings.
•
Making recycled paper is more polluting than making new
paper
False! Pulping, bleaching and manufacturing
paper, especially paper made from 'chemical' pulp (used
for most printing papers other than newsprint), requires
more chemicals and is often more polluting than making
recycled paper.
•
Making recycled paper requires a lot of bleaching
False!
Most recycled papers require little if any bleaching.
If a mill has no de-inking or cleaning equipment, it can
only accept unprinted or lightly printed (e.g. computer)
waste paper.
At other mills printed waste is cleaned by:
Dispersal - the ink is diluted and dispersed in the pulp
(with no extra pollution); or
De-inking - this is more a mechanical than a chemical
process. A detergent (usually phosphate free) is used
to dissolve the ink. Most commonly air bubbles are injected
into a large vat (de-inking cell) holding the pulp. Ink
sticks to the bubbles and rises to the surface where it
is scooped off. This process is repeated a couple of times.
The de-inked waste is solidified and either burned, turned
into soil conditioner or safely disposed off.
Where bleaching is used, almost invariably chlorine-free
agents are used.
•
It is better to burn (incinerate) waste paper than to
recycle it
False and
(occasionally) True!
There is a lot of paper (especially packaging) which is
contaminated or difficult to recycle (if mixed up with
other materials). It may be better to make use of the
calorific value of the waste than dump it in a hole in
the ground. But incineration itself can cause pollution!
… and there is still much good quality paper going
to waste. It is obviously better to recycle this (and
retain the carbon) than to burn it.
FACT Over the last
few years there have been a number of government reports
predicting that by the end of this decade (or sooner)
we will have run out of available landfill sites, if we
continue to dispose of our waste at current rates.
•
There is nothing wrong with using trees - a renewable
resource - as a crop for paper
False and
True!
Trees have only been used on a large scale for papermaking
since the second half of the 19th century. Provided they
are grown in a sustainable and ecologically responsible
way, trees are a valuable source of raw material for papermaking
…. but there are
many areas where trees are grown as a 'cash crop', often
in mono-culture fashion (one species of tree). Fertilisers,
herbicides, insecticides and other pesticides are used
to ensure a 'healthy' crop with consequent damage to the
environment
….and there is a
limit to how much natural or original forest we want to
see turned over to 'farmed' forest ….and
in areas where clear-felling is practised, it can lead
to soil erosion.
Don't trust the label 'made from sustainable forests'
at face value. To be sure, specify papers made with FSC
(Forest Stewardship Council) certified content.
•
Recycled Papers are always of poor quality
False!
The quality of recycled paper (as well as new paper) has
benefitted from great improvements in papermaking technology
over the last three decades. Quality control is almost
invariably computerised and subject to the strictest testing
and checking. Many recycled coated and office papers are
now indistinguishable from virgin equivalents, not just
in their performance, but even in their appearance. There
are obviously still some uncoated grades with a more uneven
surface structure that will still have to be treated with
a degree of caution. Should there be any doubt about a
paper's performance, advice should be sought from the
printer or merchant.
•
Recycled Papers are always more expensive
False and
True!
There is now a wider choice of recycled papers available,
many of which are competitively priced. It is also important
to remember that quality is not identical with appearance.
Some of the quality recycled papers will be more expensive,
but in the short term it will remain difficult for recycled
grades to offer the same breadth of qualities as virgin
grades. It should also be borne in mind that the price
of paper is only one component, albeit a visible one,
of the total cost of a print job.
