We Americans use over 650 pounds of paper per year per person. Recycling reduces clean post-consumer waste to cellulose fibers and is recycled five or more times. Recycling paper and cardboard conserves natural resources, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, saves energy and preserves landfill space for other kinds of trash which are more difficult or impossible to recycle. Can I recycle any paper? Almost all magazines, catalogs, fliers and newspapers are prime materials for recycling. But, items like paper towels, napkins, cups, or any paper that has contacted food waste, oil, plastic coatings, and other chemical residues isn’t useful.
Today, more than one-third of new paper includes recycled fiber. Whole trees and other plants make about a third and residue from sawmills the other third. While paper can’t be recycled indefinitely, it can be reprocessed five to seven times, by which time the fibers have become too short. Only then must new fiber be added. Although water and energy are required to make recycled paper, far fewer trees need to be cut down. To be recycled, used paper is first shredded and then mixed with water and chemicals and heated until it forms a pulp. The pulp is purified and sprayed onto a conveyor belt where the fibers bond together. Heated metal rollers dry and smooth the pulp which is spooled into large rolls ready to be converted into recycled paper products. According to the EPA, two-thirds of the packaging material recovered for recycling is paper. That is more than the combined total of glass, metal and plastic.
North America’s paper industry depends on sustainable forests, and plants more trees than are harvested annually. Papers inventoried by Dual Print & Mail are rated and FSC certified according to strict standards set by the Forest Stewardship Council which preserve biological diversity and benefit the lives of local people and workers.
Printing specifiers and buyers should know that while any printer can purchase paper that is FSC certified, only FSC certified printers, who are subject to annual audits and follow strict procedures, may put any FSC logo on their printed products. When customers specify FSC paper but do not ask for the logo to appear on their printed material, the customer has no way of knowing if the stock used was actually purchased from reliable sources.
Printed paper’s carbon footprint is low, producing only about 1% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Even that small amount is offset by carbon sequestration in the managed forests. Dual Print & Mail is dedicated to keeping our planet green with Eco friendly printer paper. We are a FSC certified vender and by operating entirely using wind generated electricity. Contact us today!
