Recycling Paper

Posted on February 12, 2013

Recycling Paper is the process of turning waste paper into a new product. Typically recovered paper can put 80% of its contents into further use for recycling while 20% goes to landfills. For recycling, the recovered paper has to have no glossy ink and should not be coated with clay or any other material. This hampers the recycling process and does not produce the conventional scrap that can further be made into recycled paper. If we recycle paper we use 60% less energy than what we would use to make fresh new paper from wood pulp. We would therefore in fact be saving a lot many trees.

India lacks gravely in the awareness and the need to recycle paper. Annually only 20% of waste paper is recovered as the country lacks the collection, sorting and grading system of waste paper for proper utilization.In comparison developed countries have a very high recovery rate. Germany- 73%, Sweden- 69%, japan -60%, Western Europe-56%, the US -49% and Italy-45%.     

The Indian paper Industry uses wood, agricultural residue and some waste paper ( about 7%) to manufacture paper. The immediate need is to increase that percentage and to lessen the dumping in landfills by increasing recycling. 

Here are a few reasons we should recycle. 

• Recycling reduces GHG emissions and saves energy
• Paper Recycling helps in increasing the rate of Carbon absorption and slows the rate of Carbon release
• About 90 % of all paper pulp is produced from wood, recycling one tonne of newspaper saves one tonne of wood and recycling one tonne of printed paper saves slightly more than two tonnes of wood. 
• Recycling paper saves 14% of landfill space
• It requires less energy and water 
• It decreases sulphur Dioxide emissions
• Recycling one tonne of paper can save 17 trees
• you can power your TV for 31 hours by using energy from saving 1 tonne of newspaper
• Most papers can be recycled 8 times before being discarded.