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Paper recycling is reprocessing waste paper fibers back into a usable paper product. Paper suitable for reuse or recycling is called '''scrap paper'''. PROCESS While there are differences depending on the specific type of paper being recycled ( Corrugated Fiberboard , newspaper, mixed office waste), recycling processes include the following steps: # Pulping: Adding water and applying mechanical action to separate fibers from each other. # Screening: Using screens, with either slots or holes, to remove contaminants that are larger than pulp fibers. # Centrifugal cleaning: Spinning the pulp slurry in a cleaner causes materials that are more dense than pulp fibers to move outward and be rejected. # Flotation: Passing air bubbles through the pulp slurry, with a surfactant present, causes ink particles to collect with the foam on the surface. By removing contaminated foam, pulp is made brighter. This step is sometimes called deinking. # Kneading or dispersion: Mechanical action is applied to fragment contaminant particles. # Washing: Small particles are removed by passing water through the pulp. # Bleaching: If white paper is desired, bleaching uses Peroxide s or Hydrosulfites to remove colour from the pulp. # Papermaking: The clean (and/or bleached) fiber is made into a "new" paper product in the same way that virgin Paper is made. # Dissolved Air Flotation : Process water is cleaned for reuse. # Waste disposal: The unusable material left over, mainly ink, plastics, filler and short fibers, is called sludge. The sludge is buried in a landfill, burned to create energy at the paper mill or used as a fertilizer by local farmers. STANDARDS There are three categories of paper that can be used as feedstocks for making recycled paper: mill broke, '''pre-consumer waste''', and '''post-consumer waste'''. Mill broke includes paper trimmings from a virgin paper mill. Pre-consumer waste is material that was discarded before it was ready for consumer use. Post-consumer waste is material that was discarded after actually being used by a consumer. ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS Today, 90% of paper pulp is made of wood. Paper manufacture is estimated to account for nearly 13 percent of total wood use, and represents one percent of the world's total economic output International Institute for Environment and Development, The Sustainable Paper Cycle, draft report for the Business Council on Sustainable Development, IIED, London, 1995; Ayres, E.; "Making Paper without Trees", WorldWatch, September/October 1993, pp.5-8; Durning, A. T. and Ayres, E.; "The Story of a Newspaper", WorldWatch, November/December 1994, pp.30-32; Wright, R., personal communication . Recycling 1 tonne (1t = 1000 kg) of newspaper saves about 12 trees (as opposed to 17 trees, a figure based on a much-quoted report to the U.S. Congress in the 1970sPurdue Research Foundation and US Environmental Protection Agency, 1996, although the process of papermaking has become more efficient since then). Recycling 1 tonne of printing and writing paper saves 24 trees (a mixture of softwoods and hardwoods 40 feet tall and 6-8 inches in diameter) because this paper, made via the kraft chemical (or "freesheet") pulping process, is of higher quality (i.e., contains more fibers) than the newspapers or telephone directories made via a "mechanical" or "groundwood" process. It should be noted that unlike most other recyclables, paper cannot be recycled over and over again. Eventually the fibers become too weak and short to be used again. That is why virgin paper fiber is usually mixed with recycled paper when new paper products are made. Most cardboard boxes are a mixture of 50 percent new and 50 percent recycled fibers. Therefore some of the contents of recycled paper will still come from felled trees. However, most paper produced in the western world is made from trees specifically grown for papermaking figure? . A tree harvested for papermaking is soon replaced by another, so the cycle continues. "We are not talking about the rainforest or old growth in the Pacific Northwest," says Champion Paper’s Martin Blick. "Most of the trees cut for paper come from fifth or sixth generation pulp-wood forests." To make sure the paper is not coming from tropical forests, you should check for FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified content. It saves energy. The EIA It saves water. Recycling 1 ton of newspaper saves 31,780 litres of water Environment Canada . Paper manufacturing is the largest industrial user of water by weight of finished product American Forest and Paper Association . It reduces your carbon footprint. Paper manufacturing is the third largest user of fossil fuels worldwideAmerican Forest and Paper Association, (Garner, J.W.. Energy Conservation Practices Offer Environmental and Cost Benefits. Pulp & Paper, October 2002). Recycling 1 kg of paper instead of landfilling it avoids 900 g of CO2 emissions as well as methane emissions. Purchasing 100% post-consumer recycled paper lightens your carbon footprint by 5 pounds of CO2 per ream. Reduced environmental degradation. Forests harvested by clear-felling (vs. selective felling) can lead to Soil Erosion and degradation as the nutrients are continually removed with the trees. Additionally, Farmed Forests often require the use of large quantities of Artificial Fertilizer --the production, transportation, and regular application of which is extremely energy intensive and environmentally damaging. Furthermore, recycling half the world’s paper would free 20 million acres (80,000 km&2) forestland EarthWorks Group. 1990. “The Recycler’s Handbook”. Berkeley, CA: The EarthWorks Press . You can reuse it! The European Union , as part of the Waste Hierarchy in the Waste Framework Directive , stipulates that reuse or recycling of used paper and board is preferable to disposal. Apart from recycling paper to make new paper (which may not be an option if your area has no recycling plant), there are many uses for used paper, such as cheap insulation, as a sponge for cleaning, as garden mulch, or for arts and craft making. CRITICISM See Also: Recycling criticism Many of the claimed benefits of paper recycling have fallen under criticism; criticized areas include the claim that recycling saves trees, reduces energy consumption, reduces pollution, creates desirable jobs, and saves money. RECYCLING FACTS AND FIGURES |
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