Paper
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What is it?
‘What is it?’ may seem like a strange question, however, did you know that the first piece of paper was not made from wood, but rags, around 2,000 years ago.
Nowadays, paper is usually made from wood or recycled paper, which has been ‘pulped’ (mashed up) into tiny fibres, squashed and dried. Around the world, paper it is still made from other fibrous material such as cotton, straw, or even dung!
The best way to see how paper is made is to tear it. If you look closely, you will see that the tear is a mass of fibres. These fibres are the individual parts that make up paper. To give it a shiny finish, glossy paper is sometimes coated in clay.
Paper is usually made from pulp from two main sources;
Virgin paper
What is it? – This is paper that has been made directly from trees. Before you buy virgin paper, check to see if it is from a certified scheme such as FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council). This will ensure that the forest is well managed and trees will be replaced.
Recovered paper
What is it? – This is paper from our recycling collections and industry. It is sometimes called ‘post consumer’. In 2010, over 70% of the fibre used to make paper was from recovered sources.
Why don’t we just use recovered paper?
Because of the way paper is made, fibres need to be long enough to hold themselves together. When recovered paper is recycled again and again, the fibres become broken up and shorter. As a result, paper can be recycled about 7 times before the fibres become too short to work. For this reason, some virgin paper will always be needed to ensure that paper remains strong enough.
If you want to find out a lot more about paper, visit www.paper.org.uk
Can it be recycled?
Yes it can!
In 2010, we recycled 8 million tonnes of paper in the UK, making it one of the easiest things to recycle. Of all the paper produced in this country; which includes paper from our homes and industry, almost 90% is recycled.
Legislation is also helping us recycle more paper through the Recycled Content of Newsprint Bill. This bill makes publishers of newspapers and magazines recycle up to 65% of the total weight produced by 2016. This means that your magazine will probably have a logo on the front page that asks you to recycle it.
The Bill also made publishers include at least 80% recovered fibre in their publications by 2010 and show the % recycled content. Your new magazine therefore may very well contain fibres from one you recycled a couple of weeks ago!
As a general rule, the higher quality paper, the more valuable it is to recycle. Recovered paper uses up to 70% less energy and less water to produce. This is because most of the energy used in papermaking is the pulping needed to turn wood into paper. Production of recycled paper also reduces air pollution by 95%.
Recycling, energy from waste or composting are all better from an environmental point of view than putting paper into landfill.
Where can I recycle it?
Paper is easy to recycle providing it is;
Fresh
What is this? – As paper gets older, ink sets to the fibres. This means that paper recyclers have a harder job getting it white again. This may involve the use of more chemicals.
Clean
What is this? – For paper to be recycled it needs to be clean. This means that paper from your cat litter tray is not suitable for recycling!
Dry
What is this? – Wet paper picks up dirt and starts to break down and disintegrate quicker than dry paper. This makes the recycling process more difficult than it should be. Because wet paper is heavier, it also takes more fuel to transport it.
The easiest way of keeping paper fresh clean and dry is to separate it, and recycle regularly.
Paper can be recycled in household recycling collections, Recycling Centres or recycling banks.
This website is intended to provide a broad introduction to waste management in Devon, if it doesn’t answer all your waste questions, please contact us via the ‘Ask a question’ page on this site and we will do our best to answer it.
