Paper recycling

Waste paper recycling most often involves mixing used/old paper with water and chemicals to break it down. It is then chopped up and heated, which breaks it down further into strands of cellulose, a type of organic plant material; this resulting mixture is called pulp, or slurry. It is strained through screens, which removes plastic (especially from plastic-coated paper) that may still be in the mixture. It is then cleaned, de-inked (ink is removed), bleached, and mixed with water. Then it can be made into new recycled paper.{{cite web|title=How is Paper Recycled |url=http://www.tappi.org/paperu/all_about_paper/earth_answers/earthanswers_recycle.pdf |publisher=TAPPI |access-date=28 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111130061422/http://www.tappi.org/paperu/all_about_paper/earth_answers/EarthAnswers_Recycle.pdf |archive-date=30 November 2011 }}

The share of ink in a wastepaper stock is up to about 2% of the total weight.R. McKinney: Technology of Paper Recycling, 1995, p. 351. {{ISBN|9780751400175}}

In the mid-19th century, there was an increased demand for books and writing material. Up to that time, paper manufacturers had used discarded linen rags for paper, but supply could not keep up with the increased demand. Books were bought at auctions to recycle fibre content into new paper, at least in the United Kingdom, by the beginning of the 19th century.{{Cite book|last=Howsam|first=Leslie|title=Cheap Bibles: Nineteenth Century Publishing and the British and Foreign Bible Society|year=1991|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521522129}}

Industrialized papermaking affects the environment both upstream (where raw materials are acquired and processed) and downstream (waste-disposal impacts).Hershkowitz, A. (2002). Bronx ecology. Washington DC: Island Press. p. 62

Today{{When|date=August 2023}}, 40% of paper pulp is created from wood (in most modern mills only 9–16% of pulp is made from pulp logs; the rest comes from waste wood that was traditionally burnt){{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}. Paper production accounts for about 35% of felled trees.{{cite web|url=http://www.ecology.com/features/paperchase/index.html|title=Paper Chase|access-date=21 September 2007|last=Martin|first=Sam|year=2004|publisher=Ecology Communications, Inc.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517045846/http://www.ecology.com/features/paperchase/index.html|archive-date=17 May 2008|url-status=dead}} Recycling one ton of newsprint saves about 1 ton of wood while recycling 1 ton of printing or copier paper saves slightly more than 2 tons of wood.{{cite web|url=http://www.greenpressinitiative.org/documents/recycledfiberfactsheet-EPN.pdf|title=Environmental Paper Network|access-date=23 October 2011|year=2007|publisher=Green Press Initiative|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407022524/http://www.greenpressinitiative.org/documents/recycledfiberfactsheet-EPN.pdf|archive-date=7 April 2012|url-status=dead}} This is because kraft pulping requires twice as much wood since it removes lignin to produce higher quality fibres than mechanical pulping processes. Relating tons of paper recycled to the number of trees not cut is meaningless, since tree size varies tremendously and is the major factor in how much paper can be made from how many trees.{{cite web|url=http://www.spiritone.com/~brucem/savetree.htm|title=How Many Recycled Newspapers Does It Take to Save A Tree?|access-date=22 September 2007|last=Marcot|first=Bruce G.|year=1992|publisher=The Ecology Plexus|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013143706/http://spiritone.com/~brucem/savetree.htm|archive-date=13 October 2007|url-status=dead}} In addition, trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 16% of world pulp production, old growth forests 9% and second- and third- and more generation forests account for the balance. Most pulp mill operators practice reforestation to ensure a continuing supply of trees.{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certify paper made from trees harvested according to guidelines meant to ensure good forestry practices.{{cite web|url=http://www.fsccanada.org/certification.htm|title=Certification Tracking products from the forest to the shelf!|access-date=21 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826032911/http://fsccanada.org/certification.htm|archive-date=26 August 2007|url-status=dead}}

Energy consumption is reduced by recycling,{{cite news|title=Case history: The truth about recycling|url=http://www.economist.com/node/9249262?story_id=9249262|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=19 April 2012|date=9 June 2007}} although there is debate concerning the actual energy savings realized. The Energy Information Administration claims a 40% reduction in energy when paper is recycled versus paper made with unrecycled pulp,{{cite web

|url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/saving/recycling/solidwaste/paperandglass.html#SavingEnergy|title=SavingEnergy Recycling Paper & Glass|publisher=Energy Information Administration|date=September 2006|access-date=20 October 2007}} while the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) claims a 64% reduction.{{cite web

|url=http://www.bir.org/aboutrecycling/index.asp|title=Information about Recycling|publisher=Bureau of International Recycling|access-date=20 October 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927175746/http://www.bir.org/aboutrecycling/index.asp |archive-date = 27 September 2007}} Some calculations show that recycling one ton of newspaper saves about {{convert|4000|kWh|GJ|lk=on|abbr=on}} of electricity, although this may be too high (see comments below on unrecycled pulp). This is enough electricity to power a 3-bedroom European house for an entire year or enough energy to heat and air-condition the average North American home for almost six months.{{cite web|url=http://www.bringrecycling.org/benefits.html|title=Recycle – Save Energy|publisher=South Carolina Electric & Gas Company|year=1991|access-date=20 October 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070911155218/http://www.bringrecycling.org/benefits.html |archive-date = 11 September 2007}} Recycling paper to make pulp consumes more fossil fuels than making new pulp via the kraft process; these mills generate most of their energy from burning waste wood (bark, roots, sawmill waste) and byproduct lignin (black liquor).{{cite web|url=http://www.biotech.wisc.edu/jeffries/bioprocessing/pulping.html |title=Kraft pulping: Energy consumption and production |access-date=21 October 2007 |last=Jeffries |first=Tom |date=27 March 1997 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Biotech Center |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061220185352/http://www2.biotech.wisc.edu/jeffries/bioprocessing/pulping.html |archive-date=20 December 2006 }} Pulp mills producing new mechanical pulp use large amounts of energy; a very rough estimate of the electrical energy needed is 10 gigajoules per tonne of pulp (2500 kW·h per short ton).{{Cite book|last=Biermann|first=Christopher J.|title=Essentials of Pulping and Papermaking|year=1993|publisher=Academic Press, Inc.|location=San Diego|isbn=0-12-097360-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/essentialsofpulp0000bier}}

About 35% of municipal solid waste (before recycling) in the United States by weight is paper and paper products. 42.4% of that is recycled.{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/pubs/ex-sum05.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912025805/http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/pubs/ex-sum05.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 September 2007|title=Executive Summary: Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2005 Facts and Figures|access-date=23 October 2007|year=200|publisher=US Environmental Protection Agency}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that recycling causes 35% less water pollution and 74% less air pollution than making virgin paper.{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/conserve/onthego/info/index.htm|title=Recyc2007|access-date=30 October 2007}} Pulp mills can be sources of both air and water pollution, especially if they are producing bleached pulp. Modern mills produce considerably less pollution than those of a few decades ago. Recycling paper provides an alternative fibre for papermaking. Recycled pulp can be bleached with the same chemicals used to bleach virgin pulp, but hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydrosulfite are the most common bleaching agents. Recycled pulp, or paper made from it, is known as PCF (process chlorine free) if no chlorine-containing compounds were used in the recycling process.{{cite web|url=http://www.pneac.org/sheets/all/paper.cfm|title=Facts About Paper|access-date=30 October 2007|last=MacFadden|first=Todd|author2=Michael P. Vogel|date=June 1996|publisher=Printers' National Environmental Assistance Center, Montana State University|archive-date=12 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070712135227/http://www.pneac.org/sheets/all/paper.cfm|url-status=dead}}

Studies on paper and cardboard production estimate the emissions of recycling paper to be 0.2 to 1.5 kg CO₂-equivalent/kg material.{{cite web|url=https://mswdst.rti.org/docs/lci_report_ocr.pdf|title=Life cycle inventory data sets for material production of aluminium, glass, paper, plastic, and steel in North America|access-date=29 December 2020|date=February 2003}}{{cite web|url=http://avfallnorge.web123.no/article_docs/Avfall%20Norge%20Rapport%205-09%20klimaregnskap%20avfall%20%20Fase%201-2.pdf|date=2009|title=Klimaregnskap for avfallshåndtering|access-date=29 December 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.prognos.com/publikationen/alle-publikationen/413/show/635b2b8d8a0efc8a75ce312eb626668d/|title=Resource savings and CO₂ reduction potentials in waste management in Europe and the possible contribution to the CO₂ reduction target in 2020|date=2008|access-date=29 December 2020}} This is about 70% of the CO₂ emissions connected with production of virgin material.{{cite book|url=http://mr.crossref.org/iPage?doi=10.6027%2FTN2015-547|date=2015|access-date=29 December 2020|title=Climate Benefits of Material Recycling|doi=10.6027/TN2015-547|last1=Hillman|first1=Karl|last2=Damgaard|first2=Anders|last3=Eriksson|first3=Ola|last4=Jonsson|first4=Daniel|last5=Fluck|first5=Lena|isbn=9789289342179|s2cid=128434790 }}

File:Portugal, politiek, straatbeelden etc. straatbeelden in Lissabon Man met vrach, Bestanddeelnr 927-7493.jpg

The industry self-initiative European Recovered Paper Council (ERPC) was set up in 2000 to monitor progress towards meeting the paper recycling targets set out in the 2000 European Declaration on Paper Recycling. Since then, the commitments in the Declaration have been renewed every five years. In 2011, the ERPC committed itself to meeting and maintaining both a voluntary recycling rate target of 70% in the then E-27, plus Switzerland and Norway by 2015, as well as qualitative targets in areas such as waste prevention, ecodesign and research and development. In 2014, the paper recycling rate in Europe was 71.7%, as stated in the 2014 Monitoring Report.Final Monitoring Report 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20160310193259/http://www.paperrecovery.org/uploads/Modules/Publications/Final_MonitoringReport2014.pdf

File:Make a difference, understanding Pendleton's recycling program DVIDS536228.jpg]]

Recycling has long been practised in the United States. In 1690, nearly a century before the American Revolution, the first paper mill to use recycled linen rags was established by the Rittenhouse family.{{cite web|url=http://www.ipst.gatech.edu/amp/collection/museum_pm_usa.htm|title=Papermaking Moves to the United States|access-date=20 October 2007|publisher=Robert C. Williams Paper Museum, Georgia Institute of Technology|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814173933/http://ipst.gatech.edu/amp/collection/museum_pm_usa.htm|archive-date=14 August 2007|url-status=dead}} In 1993, 300 years later, another milestone was reached when, for the first time, more paper was recycled than was landfilled.{{cite web|url=http://www.ipst.gatech.edu/amp/collection/museum_recycling.htm|title=Recycling in the Paper Industry|access-date=20 October 2007|publisher=Robert C. Williams Paper Museum, Georgia Institute of Technology|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814074043/http://ipst.gatech.edu/amp/collection/museum_recycling.htm|archive-date=14 August 2007|url-status=dead}}

By 1998, some 9,000 curbside recycling programs and 12,000 recyclable drop-off centers existed nationwide. As of 1999, 480 materials recovery facilities had been established to process the collected materials.{{cite web|title=Municipal Solid Waste – Recycling|work=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency|url=http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/recycle.htm|access-date=2 April 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060308134427/http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/recycle.htm |archive-date = 8 March 2006}}

In 2008, the Great Recession caused the price of old newspapers to drop in the U.S. from $130 to $40 per short ton ($140/t to $45/t) in October.Page, Candace, Waste district raises recycling fees, Burlington Free Press, 12 November 2008

In 2018, paper and paperboard accounted for 67.39 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in the U.S.,{{Citation |year= 2020 |title=Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2018 Fact Sheet |publisher= United States Environmental Protection Agency |page= 4|url= https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-01/documents/2018_ff_fact_sheet_dec_2020_fnl_508.pdf|access-date=25 August 2023}} down from more than 87.74 million tons in 2000.{{cite web |title=National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling |url=https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials |website=EPA |publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency |access-date=25 August 2023}} As of 2018, paper products are still the largest component of MSW generated in the United States, making up 23% by weight. While paper is the most commonly recycled material (68.2 percent of paper waste was recovered in 2018, up from 33.5 percent in 1990){{cite web |title=2006 Recovered Paper Annual Statistics |url=http://stats.paperrecycles.org/ |access-date=10 December 2007 |publisher=Paper Industry Association Council |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060407192824/http://stats.paperrecycles.org/ |archive-date=7 April 2006}} it is being used less overall than at the turn of the century.[http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2014/12/how_textbooks_become_toilet_pa.html How textbooks become toilet paper: A Birmingham recycling center moves beyond newsprint and cans], AL.com, Jon Reed, 1 December 2014 As of 2018, paper accounted for a third of all recyclables collected in the US, by weight. The widespread adoption of the internet and email has led to a change in the composition of the waste paper stream, with junk mail becoming a larger part of the materials collected, as reading of newspapers and writing of personal letters declines.

File:India - Varanasi paper bag maker - 0078.jpg, 2005]]

After China put restrictions on waste imports in January 2018, much paper was being shipped to India. However, India's domestic recycling only produces 30% of the total paper demand.{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46641059|title=Why India is a world leader in waste paper|date=12 March 2019|access-date=15 May 2024}}

In Mexico, recycled paper, rather than wood pulp, was the principal feedstock in paper mills accounting for about 90% of raw materials in 2020.{{cite web|url=https://lasillarota.com/lsr-mexico-report/2020/12/3/in-mexico-90-of-raw-material-comes-from-recycled-paper-and-cardboard-257472.html|title=In Mexico, 90% of raw material comes from recycled paper and cardboard|date=3 December 2020|access-date=15 May 2024}}

In 2018, South Africa recovered 1.285 million tonnes of recyclable paper products, putting the country's paper recovery rate at 71.7%. More than 90% of this recovered paper is used for the local beneficiation of new paper packaging and tissue.{{Cite web|url=https://recyclepaper.co.za/|title=RecyclePaperZA | Paper recycled. Paper renewed}}

Along with fibres, paper can contain a variety of inorganic and organic constituents, including up to 10,000 different chemicals, which can potentially contaminate the newly manufactured paper products.{{Cite journal|title = Waste recycling paper: Overview and identification of potentially critical substances|journal = Waste Management|doi = 10.1016/j.wasman.2015.02.028|pmid = 25771763|first1 = Kostyantyn|last1 = Pivnenko|first2 = Eva|last2 = Eriksson|first3 = Thomas F.|last3 = Astrup|volume=45|pages=134–142|year = 2015| bibcode=2015WaMan..45..134P | s2cid=205676176 |url = https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/118749330/Overview_post_print_.pdf}} As an example, bisphenol A (a chemical commonly found in thermal paper) has been verified as a contaminant in a variety of paper products resulting from paper recycling.{{Cite journal|title = Bisphenol A and its structural analogues in household waste paper|journal = Waste Management|date = 2015-10-01|pages = 39–47|volume = 44|doi = 10.1016/j.wasman.2015.07.017|first1 = K.|last1 = Pivnenko|first2 = G. A.|last2 = Pedersen|first3 = E.|last3 = Eriksson|first4 = T. F.|last4 = Astrup|pmid=26194879| bibcode=2015WaMan..44...39P | s2cid=217938141 |url = https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/118749778/PostPrint_Davidsen_JoH_1_.pdf}} Groups of chemicals as phthalates, phenols, mineral oils, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and toxic metals have all been identified in paper material.{{Cite journal|last1=Pivnenko|first1=K.|last2=Olsson|first2=M. E.|last3=Götze|first3=R.|last4=Eriksson|first4=E.|last5=Astrup|first5=T. F.|title=Quantification of chemical contaminants in the paper and board fractions of municipal solid waste|journal=Waste Management|doi=10.1016/j.wasman.2016.03.008|pmid=26969284|volume=51|pages=43–54|year=2016|bibcode=2016WaMan..51...43P |s2cid=22484869 |url=https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/140534798/Author_s_version.pdf}} Although several measures might reduce the chemical load in paper recycling (e.g., improved decontamination, optimized collection of paper for recycling), even completely terminating the use of a particular chemical (phase-out) might still result in its circulation in the paper cycle for decades.{{Cite journal|last1=Pivnenko|first1=Kostyantyn|last2=Laner|first2=David|last3=Astrup|first3=Thomas F.|date=2016-11-15|title=Material Cycles and Chemicals: Dynamic Material Flow Analysis of Contaminants in Paper Recycling|journal=Environmental Science & Technology|volume=50|issue=22|pages=12302–12311|doi=10.1021/acs.est.6b01791|pmid=27572286|bibcode=2016EnST...5012302P|issn=0013-936X|doi-access=free}}

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• Deinked pulp cardboard
• Paper
• Tree-free paper
• Wood-free paper
• Environmental impact of paper
• USPS Post Office Box Lobby Recycling program

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