Recycling - A way of Life

Why is Recycling Important

Recycling is one of the best ways to have a positive impact on the natural environment surrounding us. Adding on to that, the amount of waste that we produce is on the increase and therefore we must act fast.

The amount of rubbish we produce has already started affecting our towns and cities:

Increasing wealth means that people are buying more products, which is producing more waste.
Increasing population means that there are more people on the planet to produce waste.
There are still packaging products that are non biodegradable that add to the waste.
Disposing large amounts of non biodegradable waste has long term adverse effects on the on local fauna and the environment.
Garbage tipping costs have exploded in the recent years to hundreds of dollars per Tonne

Environmental Importance

Recycling plays a vital role in reducing the net waste that we produce.

Harmful chemicals and greenhouse gasses are released from rubbish in landfill sites. Recycling helps to reduce the pollution caused by such waste.
Habitat destruction and global warming are some the affects caused by deforestation. Recycling reduces the need for raw materials so that the trees and forests can be preserved.
Huge amounts of energy is used when making products from their respective virgin raw materials. Recycling requires much less energy and therefore helps to preserve natural resources.

Importance To People

Recycling is essential to cities around the world and to the people living in them.

No space for waste. Landfill sites are filling up fast all over the world.
Reduction in net financial expenditure to the economy; Making products from virgin raw materials costs more than if they are made from recycled or reclaimed products.
Preservation of natural resources for future generations. Recycling reduces the need for raw materials; it also uses less energy, therefore preserving natural resources for the future.

Why should we recycle paper?

Discarded or waste paper is a major component of kerbside collection that ends up in landfill sites around the world, accounting for about 35 percent by weight of municipal solid waste. In most industrialized countries, Pulp and paper is the third largest industrial polluter to air, water, and land.

The Per Capita consumption of paper and paper products in advanced countries is rising and so is its impact on the environment. It has been estimated that by 2020, paper mills worldwide will produce almost 500 Million tonnes of paper and paperboard every year. In order to mitigate the consequences, great efforts would be needed to ensure that the impact to the environment is kept to a minimum during its production.

Worldwide, the pulp and paper industry is the fifth largest consumer of energy, accounting for four percent of all the world's energy use. The pulp and paper industry uses more water to produce a tonne of product than any other industry.

What is Recycled Paper?

Recycled paper is paper & related products that are made from paper and paper products that have already been used and reclaimed. The used paper undergoes a process in which it is made back into fresh paper. Paper can be claimed to be recycled only if it includes materials that have been recovered after the initial manufacturing process.

The process of waste paper recycling involves mixing used paper with water and chemicals to break down the physical structure. It is then chopped up and heated, which breaks it down further into strands of cellulose, a type of organic plant material; this resulting mixture is called pulp. It is then strained through screens, which remove any glue or plastic that may still be in the mixture. It is then cleaned, de-inked if required, in some cases bleached, and mixed with water. Finally it then goes through a paper machine to be turned back into new recycled paper.

Recycling Paper / Why Should We Recycle Paper?

The manufacturing of paper on an industrialized scale has enormous effects on the environment. The procurement and processing of raw materials have a variety of negative effects on the environment; denudation of woodlands and exhaustion of water supplies to name a few. Moreover, some paper types require the removal of Lignin from wood to attain a particular characteristic. Waste water discharge for a pulp and paper mill contains solids, nutrients and dissolved organic matter such as Lignin. It also contains alcohols, and chelating agents and inorganic materials like chlorates and transition metal compounds that can contaminate local water bodies if left untreated. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus can cause or exacerbate eutrophication of fresh water bodies such as lakes and rivers. Organic matter dissolved in fresh water, measured by Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), changes ecological characteristics, and in worst-case scenarios leads to death of all higher living organisms. Waste water may also be polluted with organo-chlorine compounds. Some of these are naturally occurring in wood however chlorine bleaching of the pulp produces far larger amounts.

Manufacturing also has its own share of negative effects and these are often waste disposal issues. However when paper and other suitable materials are recycled all these environmental impacts are reduced significantly.

Most importantly though, paper products when made from reclaimed paper, have a much reduced impact on land, air and water when compared to being manufactured from virgin wood & pulp sources. Studies have shown that water pollution can be lessened by 35 percent and air pollution by up to 75 percent.

And knowing that Paper & Paper Products can be recycled up to 4 times, we need to emphasize the role of recycling in our societies.

Therefore Keep Recycling!