Waste Paper Recycling: Process, Benefits, and Environmental Impact

Introduction to Waste Paper Recycling

Waste paper recycling refers to the process by which used or discarded paper is collected and turned into other products. Generally, this includes various types of cardboard and paper products. Not all waste paper is created equal, and there are three different categories of paper that are recycled in order to create more paper products. These categories are mill broke, pre-consumer waste, and post-consumer waste (Waite 2013).

The Paper Recycling Manufacturing Process

When paper is manufactured, there are ends, pieces, and scraps that are removed from it in the mill (Best & Kneip 2011). These are the mill broke pieces of waste paper that can be recycled. They are generally taken straight from the paper mill to the recycling plant. If the plant has its own recycling area, these mill broke pieces are simply recycled internally and reused in the continued paper production (Best & Kneip 2011). Most plants have these types of recycling facilities, but they may not all offer that option. For plants that do not have their own recycling areas, taking the mill broke waste paper to a recycling plant is much less expensive and better for the environment than simply throwing it away (Best & Kneip 2011; Blanco, Miranda, & Monte 2013).

Waste paper for recycling also comes from pre-consumer waste. This is paper that has already been processed and has left the mill, but that does not make it all the way to being used by a consumer (Li et al. 2013). There might be irregularities in the paper, or it may simply not sell for a specific reason. None of this paper is purchased and used by a consumer, which can make a definite difference in the cost of recycling it. This paper is collected from stores, warehouses, and other storage facilities, depending on where it was located after it left the mill but before it was purchased for use by a consumer (Blanco, Miranda, & Monte 2013; Li et al. 2013).

The third category of waste paper for recycling is post-consumer waste, which is paper that has already been used (Yamashita & Suzuki 2014). This paper is then discarded, and can include office paper, notebooks, newspapers, magazines, corrugated containers, telephone directories, and various types of mixed paper products that are collected in recycling bins from residential customers (Yamashita & Suzuki 2014). If it is suitable for being recycled, it is generally called "scrap paper," and may be used in molded pulp packaging and other applications, depending on the needs of the recycling facility and those to whom it sells its products (Yamashita & Suzuki 2014).

There are several things that have to be done in order to make the paper acceptable for recycling, including removing the printing ink from the actual fibers of the paper (Hubbe 2014). This is an industrial process, appropriately called deinking, that creates a deinked pulp that can be easily recycled (Hubbe 2014). In order to understand the true value of recycling paper, it is very important to be aware of how the actual process works. The waste paper that comes into the recycling facility is mixed with chemicals and water, which breaks down the paper (Virtanen & Nilsson 2013). It is then chopped up and heat is applied to it, which further breaks it down into individual strands of cellulose (Virtanen & Nilsson 2013).

Cellulose is a kind of organic plant material, and is how paper products start out. The mixture created from these cellulose strands and the chemicals used to create them is often called pulp, although some recycling facilities call it slurry (Laurijssen et al. 2010). The slurry is strained through screens, where any plastic or glue still left in the mixture is removed (Laurijssen et al. 2010). Once that is done, the pulp that remains is cleaned, deinked, and bleached, after which it is mixed with more water (Merrild, Larsen, & Christensen 2012). At that point, it is ready to be made into recycled paper. After approximately seven cycles of recycling, the cellulose strands are no longer viable. They become shorter with each cycle and are eventually filtered out (Young et al. 2010).

Environmental Benefits of Recycling Paper

There are a number of reasons to consider recycling paper, but the main rationale for the process is environmentally based (Young et al. 2010). Recycling waste paper means that fewer raw materials will be needed and that fewer items go into landfills — a benefit from both angles. A full 90% of the paper pulp created in mills today comes from wood (Sidique, Joshi, & Lupi 2010). Approximately 10 to 15% of that comes from actual pulp logs, and the rest comes from wood that, in the past, would have been waste and would have been burnt (Sidique, Joshi, & Lupi 2010).

Modern mills are becoming increasingly more efficient, and recycling is a big part of that. The production of paper accounts for around 35% of the trees that are cut down every year, so it is very important to recycle waste paper in order to reduce the number of trees being felled to make paper (Yan, Sagoe-Crentsil, & Shapiro 2011). Recycling one ton of newspapers can save one ton of wood, while the recycling of one ton of copier paper can save nearly two tons of wood (Yan, Sagoe-Crentsil, & Shapiro 2011).

The difference between the two lies in the kraft pulping method, which requires the use of twice as much wood (Best & Kneip 2011). Lignin is removed during that process, as this produces a higher quality of fiber than can be achieved with processes that use mechanical pulping (Best & Kneip 2011). While it is possible to state how many tons of wood are saved by recycling one ton of a particular kind of paper, it is not possible to state exactly how many trees will be saved, since the size of trees and other factors affect how many must be cut down to produce one ton of wood. Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for only approximately 15% of that production (Blanco, Miranda, & Monte 2013).

Old-growth forests make up another 10% of pulp production, with newer forests accounting for the rest (Blanco, Miranda, & Monte 2013). Most operators of pulp mills do their part in being environmentally friendly by practicing reforestation — that is, replanting trees so there will be a continuous supply and so they will not need to cut into old-growth forests instead. Still, 20 million acres of forested land could be saved if just half of the waste paper in the world were recycled instead of discarded (Blanco, Miranda, & Monte 2013; Hubbe 2014).

Another important point about waste paper recycling is that it saves energy — savings can be up to 40% or more, which is substantial (Li et al. 2013). Making paper from recycled waste paper simply costs less than when a mill must start with new pulp, and it has been clearly shown to help the environment (Virtanen & Nilsson 2013; Waite 2013). In addition to the energy savings, nearly 35% of the solid waste in landfills is made up of paper and paper products (Waite 2013). The more paper that gets recycled, the less will go to landfills, reducing the overall volume of trash and extending the usable life of those facilities.

That is easier on the environment and frees up space for actual garbage that cannot be recycled. Recycling is not going to fix all of the world's problems, but it will make an environmental difference if it is taken seriously and implemented correctly. The more recycling that is done, the more paper mills can help protect the environment and the ecosystem around them (Best & Kneip 2011). The mills generally look at the money they can save, which is important, but they must also consider the impact they will have on the planet (Best & Kneip 2011).

Conclusion

Anytime a person or business uses recycled paper, they are helping to protect the already fragile environment from further, continued harm (Young et al. 2010). There are many areas of the world where forests are already ravaged and where reforestation has not taken place. Those areas may never return to what they once were, but it is still possible to avoid creating more areas like them. By recycling waste paper and ensuring that as much waste paper as possible stays out of landfills, the future can be brighter for the planet and for those committed to ensuring that paper mills recycle paper and avoid cutting down trees wherever possible.

While it is not realistic to assume that recycling paper can stop all tree harvesting, it is certainly possible to reduce the number of trees needed each year. That, coupled with strong reforestation efforts, has the potential to help restore the planet's forests, reduce pollution, and protect the earth for the next generation (Waite 2013).

References

Best, H., & Kneip, T. 2011. 'The impact of attitudes and behavioral costs on environmental behavior: A natural experiment on household waste recycling.' Social Science Research, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 917–930.

Blanco, A., Miranda, R., & Monte, M.C. 2013. 'Extending the limits of paper recycling — improvements along the paper value chain.' Forest Systems, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 471–483.

Hubbe, M.A. 2014. 'Recycling Paper Recycling.' BioResources, vol. 9, no. 2.

Laurijssen, J., Marsidi, M., Westenbroek, A., Worrell, E., & Faaij, A. 2010. 'Paper and biomass for energy? The impact of paper recycling on energy and CO2 emissions.' Resources, Conservation and Recycling, vol. 54, no. 12, pp. 1208–1218.

Li, B., Wang, Z., Wu, S., Liu, J., & Cheng, J. 2013. 'Effects of Adhesive Aging on the Characteristics of Stickies and Their Removal during Paper Recycling.' Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, vol. 52, no. 28, pp. 9698–9704.

Merrild, H., Larsen, A.W., & Christensen, T.H. 2012. 'Assessing recycling vs. incineration of key materials in municipal waste: The importance of efficient energy recovery and transport distances.' Waste Management, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 1009–1018.

Sidique, S.F., Joshi, S.V., & Lupi, F. 2010. 'Factors influencing the rate of recycling: An analysis of Minnesota counties.' Resources, Conservation and Recycling, vol. 54, no. 4, pp. 242–249.

Virtanen, Y., & Nilsson, S. 2013. Environmental Impacts of Waste Paper Recycling. NY: Routledge.

Waite, R. 2013. Household Waste Recycling. NY: Routledge.

Yamashita, M., & Suzuki, K. 2014. 'Human Society Viewed from the Perspective of 3R-Eco Activities and Environmental Measures: Part II — Relationships between the Use of Waste Paper, Recycling of Used Paper, and Environmental Burden.' World Environment, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 67–74.

Yan, S., Sagoe-Crentsil, K., & Shapiro, G. 2011. 'Reuse of de-inking sludge from wastepaper recycling in cement mortar products.' Journal of Environmental Management, vol. 92, no. 8, pp. 2085–2090.

Young, W., Hwang, K., McDonald, S., & Oates, C.J. 2010. 'Sustainable consumption: green consumer behaviour when purchasing products.' Sustainable Development, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 20–31.