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THROWN AWAY/RECYCLING PAPER
source: www.ecoemballages.fr/
home.asp (in French)
www.paperrecovery.org/facts/erpc_
facts_figures.asp?folderid=527
news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/
in_depth/world/2002/disposable_
planet/waste/weeks_waste/
paper.stm
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On average, paper can be recycled 8 to 12 times*. It is used to make more paper or cardboard saving trees, water, and energy and decreasing pollution with each cycle… - the recycled paper, made from wastepaper instead of wood pulp, has been widely used in industrial countries, with the recycling rate of wastepaper in such countries over 60% in 2000;
- the United States and Japan all have paper recovery rates close to or in excess of 50%. The FAO predicts further growth in waste paper and paperboard recovery;
- to make a comparison with China, the rate in Beijing was just few years ago less than 10%, or only some 100,000 tons every year per 1.1 million tons of wastepaper. In 2000, the country began to carry out related policies to encourage the use of recycled paper: in an effort to promote a more sustainable consumption of paper products Beijing's government offices, for example, have opted for recycled paper instead of regular paper;
- in 2003, Western Europe recycled 53.9% of the consumed paper, the rest going to landfill or incineration. In landfill the paper decomposes to release methane, and burning it produces CO2 emissions.
Manufacturing a tonne of recycled office paper and recycling it at the end of its lifespan reduces**:
| | savings by % | | solid waste | 49 | | energy consumption | 43 | | net greenhouse gas emissions | 70 | | hazardous air pollutant emissions | 90 | particulate emissions
absorbable organic | 40 | | halogen emissions to water | 100 | | suspended solids | 30 |
* Eco-emballages.
** Environmental Defense Fund.
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