Environmental Protection

Benefits of using Recycled and Organic Paper Products

There are many benefits of recycling and using organic products. These environmentally preservationist benefits range from reducing costs, conserving energy, reducing solid waste, decreasing pollution, improving the quality of waste water, reducing pressure on forests and the environmental impacts of commercial forestry, and improving health standards.

Recycled paper has cost benefits because it is made from materials that would otherwise constitute the solid waste that is polluting our planet. By infusing this material into the paper manufacturing process and eliminating the costs associated with “virgin” pulp and whitening agents, companies can procure cost savings by producing and consuming recycled materials.

Recycled paper products conserve resources and generate less pollution during manufacturing because the fibers have already been processed once and it reduces solid waste because it diverts usable paper from the waste stream. Making paper from used paper is generally a cleaner and more efficient process than making paper from trees, since much of the work of extracting and bleaching the fibers has already been done. That means less total energy, water, and chemical use, and lower releases of air and water pollutants.

Producing recycled paper uses much less total energy than producing virgin paper. Depending on the grade, producing recycled paper may use more or less purchased energy (a subset of total energy), in the form of fossil fuels and purchased electricity. Virgin freesheet grades require slightly less purchased energy to produce than recycled ones, because some of their energy needs are met by burning wood-derived process waste. Virgin ground wood papers, by contrast, require more purchased energy to produce than do recycled ground wood papers.

Manufacturing of recycled paper does generate more solid waste, mostly in the form of sludge, than virgin paper mills. However, that increase is more than offset by the reduction in solid waste that comes from diverting paper from the waste stream. And the same inks, coatings, and fillers present in recycling mill sludge would go into the ground anyway if the paper were landfilled instead of recycled. Finally, recyclers are increasingly finding ways to reclaim and reutilize some components of recycled paper sludge, which can't happen if that paper goes to a landfill or incinerator. In fact the manufacturing process used to make EnviroCycle Paper products results in less than 10% solid waste from paper sludge. As a result of these processes there is a net reduction in solid waste which is critical to the environmental preservation of our planet.

It is a fact that paper mills improve their environmental cleanliness as they increase the amount of recycled fibers they use in manufacturing. Recycling paper means that less of it is disposed of in landfills and incinerators. This lowers air and water pollution at these facilities, as well as green-house gas emissions that arise when paper breaks down in landfills. The environmental advantages of recycling extend well beyond reducing landfills, which varies across the United States. Paper recycling also reduces the environmental impacts "upstream," in the forest and at the paper mill. By adding to the available fiber supply, paper recycling conserves wood and other forest resources, and reduces environmental impacts (energy use, air and water pollution, and solid waste) during manufacturing. Finally, by reducing paper’s contribution to landfills, recycling avoids releases of methane and other pollutants, and reduces the need to site additional landfills where such releases would occur.

Methane, a gas with 21 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide, is a potent greenhouse gas and contributor to global climate change. The U.S. EPA cites municipal landfills as the single largest source of methane emissions to the atmosphere, and has identified the decomposition of paper as among the most significant sources of landfill methane.

Recycled Paper manufacturing reduces the amount of waste water released into the environment. In fact during the manufacturing of EnviroCycle Paper products waste water is recycled and re-used in the process of making our paper. This is a significant factor in reducing pollution.

Recycling reduces the total number of trees that are cut down to make paper and can reduce overall demand for wood. But more importantly, paper recycling saves forests. By substituting used paper for trees, recycling reduces the overall intensity of forest management needed to meet a given demand for paper, and the pressure to convert natural forests and ecologically sensitive areas like wetlands into tree plantations. With recycling, not only will fewer trees be harvested to make paper, those trees that are harvested can be produced using methods that have less impact on the environment. Thus, recycling helps preserve the full range of values that forest ecosystems provide, including clean water, wildlife habitat and biodiversity.

With reductions in pollution, preservation of trees and natural resources, reduction in methane gases emitted into the environment the quality of health is improved for all of us. Paper products, especially those made from recycled fibers, are organic and as a result they biodegrade slowly and build structure in the soil. As a result organic paper products are environmentally beneficial alternatives to landscaping fabrics, nylon, and other non-biodegradable products. These products not only benefit the environment but they meet the stringent guidelines for organic growing and also reduce the costs associated with removal from the soil during replanting. Organic paper products provide moisture protection, weed control, pest control, plant preservation, and other value benefits to landscaping and organic farming.

There were many sources for this information, and data from http://www.environmentaldefense.org was beneficial in developing this web page.