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Paper recycling information sheet
The first piece of paper as we know it was produced from rags in AD 105 by Ts\'ai Luin, who was part of the Eastern Han Court of the Chinese Emperor Ho Ti. Paper is made from cellulose fibre, the source of which can be pulped wood, or a variety of other materials such as rags, cotton, grasses, sugar cane, straw, waste paper, or even elephant dung! In this country, wood pulp is the most common source material for the manufacture of virgin paper, i.e. paper which has no recycled content. In 2004 recycled paper and board provided about 74% of the source materials for the 6.2million tonnes of paper manufactured in the UK\'s 76 paper and board mills. A further 7.7 million tonnes were imported. There are different sources of waste fibre used as a source material for manufacturing recycled paper. Mill Broke is "waste" paper which has never been used, either printers\' off cuts or rolls damaged during production. When mixed with water the fibres are freed into pulp. The National Association of Paper Manufacturers does not recognise a paper as recycled if it contains more than 25% Office paper recycling mill broke and/or virgin wood pulp. The recycling of paper which has been printed on and used is known as "post-consumer waste". It is more problematic, (see de-inking below), but it is still worthwhile. Paper cannot be recycled indefinitely, it can only be recycled 4-6 times, as the fibres get shorter and weaker each time. Some virgin pulp must be introduced into the process to maintain the strength and quality of the fibre, so no matter how much we recycle we will never eradicate the need for virgin fibre. In 2003/04, paper and card accounted for almost a third of all household waste collected for recycling, with almost 1.3 million tonnes being collected in England. This means, however, that there is still a considerable amount that isn\'t recycled and is largely going to landfill or incineration. Although the raw material for making paper is predominantly trees, it is a common misconception that recycling waste paper saves trees. Trees are grown for commercial use and harvested as a long term crop with new trees planted to replace Office paper recycling those cut down. In addition, papermakers are able to use the parts of the trees that cannot be used in other industries such as construction and furniture making. Different species of trees provide fibres that are used in different types of paper. Coniferous softwoods such as spruce, pine birch and cedar produce fibres which are long (average fibre length is 3mm) and are used to make papers which have a lot of strength. Hardwoods such as birch and aspen do not grow as fast as softwoods and produce short fibres (average fibre length 1mm) which are used for bulky papers such as writing paper and fluting, which is the middle part of cardboard. Nearly all paper is made from wood grown in these "sustainable" forests. The more important environmental issues are: 1. The nature of forests and where they are situated. As the demand for paper
has increased, more timber has been needed to meet the demand for wood pulp.
In some cases this has meant the loss of valuable wildlife habitats and ecosystems,
as old forests have been replaced by managed plantations, usually of fast-growing
conifers. The lack of tree species diversity in managed forests has a direct
impact on the biodiversity of the whole forest. By using waste paper to produce new paper disposal problems are reduced. About one fifth of the contents of household dustbins consist of paper and card, of which half is newspapers and magazines. This is equivalent to over 4kg of waste paper per household in the UK each week. Pie chart breakdown of household waste composition Source: Analysis of household waste composition and factors driving waste increases - Dr. J. Parfitt, WRAP, December 2002 1. Office white paper If you have junk mail, windowed envelopes, or Yellow Pages then please contact you local authority. These materials can be more awkward to recycle, and the availability of recycling facilities varies around the country. There are also different grades of paper and board collected mainly from agricultural
and industrial sources. There are actually about 50 different grades for paper
recycling companies to grapple with! You can find details of the other grades
here on this website: www.letsrecycle.com/materials/paper/specifications.jsp 1. Try not to use as much in the first place! Use the back of sheets of paper
as well as the front - look to see if that piece of paper you were going to
put in the bin could be used as scrap paper for many uses eg to make a shopping
list, to jot down your dental appointment or to leave a note for someone. Where can I take paper for recycling? If your council doesn\'t pick up paper for recycling via a kerbside scheme, they may have some collection points for newspaper, magazines and telephone directories. For example, there may be paper banks at shopping centres and at civic amenity sites. Go to http://www.recyclenow.com/. This website allows you to obtain a list of the nearest recycling banks to you. All you have to do is enter your postcode to find your nearest recycling banks! The Yellow Pages Directory Recycling Scheme offers a freephone recycling helpline - 0800 671 444 - which provides advice on where and how to recycle old Yellow Pages directories. Opportunities to recycle the old Yellow Pages range from kerbside schemes and recycling banks at local supermarkets and bring sites, to schools recycling initiatives as part of the Yellow Woods Challenge - http://www.yellow-woods.co.uk/. Please see the further information further information section for further details. If you do not have a kerbside collection, or local drop off scheme, then make
your visits to collection points as you are passing - don\'t make a special journey
in the car to take Office paper recycling any materials for recycling - you could be using more energy
and causing more atmospheric pollution than you are saving! There are many waste paper merchants and national paper collection companies
which will collect a quantity of paper for recycling. In the first instance
contact whoever is already dealing with your normal waste, as many waste management
companies now also provide recycling services. Alternatively, a quick scan through
the local business directory should provide some numbers for recycling collectors. Cartons are not made from paper alone but comprise of about 75% paper, 20%
plastic (polyethylene) and 5% aluminium foil. As they are an amalgam of materials,
they cannot be recycled along with ordinary paper. They can be reprocessed into
other items or incinerated to produce energy, or landfilled. There are very
few collection points for the reprocessing of such cartons in this country,
although a reprocessing plant was recently constructed in Scotland. Contact
The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment for further details. The future of recycling ultimately depends on there being a market for the
materials collected. Recycling is not just collecting materials and taking them
to the recycling bank, it is about "closing the loop" and buying recycled
too. Paper mills cannot continue to produce recycled paper if people do not
buy items made from it. Most supermarkets and high street stationers now sell a range of recycled products, such as writing paper, notebooks, file paper, diaries with recycled paper content, calendars, paper tablecloths and napkins, tissues, toilet rolls, kitchen paper and other items. If you cannot see the product you want and you think it could be available made from recycled materials, ask if the shop intends to stock such things in the future - if a lot of people ask, it may encourage the shop to add to its recycled range. The retailer needs to have an incentive to stock the products. Some charities also sell recycled products such as greetings cards and stationery through their mail order catalogues. Contact the ones you would be interested in supporting and ask if they have a catalogue. Many printers and office stationery suppliers now use or sell recycled paper. You could ask your usual supplier to make it available, or look in the Yellow Pages for local suppliers. WRAP produces the Recycled Products Guide which lists recycled products available
in this country. Visit the site at http://www.recycledproducts.org.uk/ or call
WRAP on 08080 1002040 for further details. Sometimes the ink is not removed from the paper when it is reprocessed. The ink is dispersed into the pulp, discolouring it slightly, which is why recycled paper can have a greyish tinge. If the paper is to be de-inked, this can be done in one of two ways, by washing or flotation. Washing - As the paper is pulped, chemicals can be added which separate the ink Office paper recycling from the paper and allow it to be washed away in the large amounts of water used. (The water can then be cleaned and re-used.) Flotation - Air can be passed through the pulp, producing foam which will hold at least half of the ink and can be skimmed off. Sometimes the pulp is also bleached; hydrogen peroxide and chlorine are commonly used bleaches, though the former is the more acceptable as it breaks down into water and oxygen on disposal. Chlorine can combine with organic matter under certain conditions to produce organo carbons, including dioxins, which are toxic pollutants. Although the de-inking process uses water and chemicals, it is still less harmful to the environment than the manufacturing process of new paper. If you are buying paper in bulk for an office or business, it is worth looking for a supplier who can tell you what the recycled fibre content is, and whether it has been bleached using chlorine, as this is best avoided. Author: http://www.wasteonline.org.uk |