Why does my choice of paper matter?
Paper is primarily made from the pulped wood of trees and half of the timber harvested worldwide is used to make paper (FSC, 2010). The forests where trees grow are carbon stores and hold a lot of carbon in their soils. Trees also absorb carbon dioxide that can help mitigate the effects of climate change. It is important to understand that mature forests will absorb more carbon dioxide than young fast growing plantation forests. Therefore the paper that you buy should be derived from sustainably managed forests so that mature forests can be preserved. A mature tree absorbs and stores throughout its lifetime up to a tonne of carbon dioxide (McCarthy, Easy Eco Auditing, 2008). This also means that the larger the forest, the more carbon dioxide can be withdrawn from the atmosphere.
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certifies some paper products. If you see a paper product with the FSC symbol, you will know that the wood from which the paper is made, has been checked that it is from sustainably managed forest. This means that local forest communities are respected and habitats are protected. The FSC state that paper products with the FSC logo come from well managed sources and exclude the risk of using illegally logged timber or funding conflict (FSC, 2010).
There are three types of FSC certification:
- FSC 100% - all the timber or fibre in the product comes from an FSC-certified forest;
- FSC Recycled – all the timber or fibre in the product is post-consumer reclaimed material;
- FSC Mixed Sources - the timber or fibre in the product is a mixture of the above.
When choosing your paper, note which FSC certification the paper is displaying.
Recycled
Choosing recycled paper is a great environmental choice. Recycled paper (also known as recovered paper) is no longer grey looking and looks as good as its virgin counterpart. Recycling paper reduces landfill emissions. Making recycled paper involves between 28 – 70% less energy consumption than virgin paper and uses less water (Wasteonline, 2010). Pulping wood consumes a lot of energy, so by recycling, you are taking out this carbon eating step.
For every tonne of paper used for recycling, the savings are [1]:
- At least 30,000 litres of water
- 3000 – 4000 kWh electricity (enough for an average 3 bedroom house for one year)
- 95% less air pollution than making paper from virgin wood.
WRAP, in conjunction with the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI), found that recycling paper in the UK saved over 11.5 million tonnes of carbon just from diverting waste paper from other disposal routes such as landfill and incineration (CPI, 2010).
National Association of Paper Merchants (NAPM)
Like the FSC, NAPM also certify recycled paper products. The NAPM Recycled Logo can be used on products which have from 50 to 100% recovered fibre. Under no circumstances can Mill Broke, Virgin Wood Fibre or Virgin Non-wood Fibre contribute to genuine recovered fibre (NAPM, 2010). However do consider that in some circumstances where 50% of the paper product may contain recovered fibre, the other 50% could be from virgin wood fibre.
PEFC
PEFC is the world’s largest sustainable forestry certification organisation representing over 220 million hectares of certified forests (PEFC, 2010). They provide two types of certification:
- PEFC Certified where at least 70% of wood comes from PEFC-certified forests that meet or exceed PEFC’s Sustainability Benchmark; and wood comes from controlled sources (PEFC, 2010).
- PEFC Certified and Recycled which is the same as above, and/or post-consumer recycled material. The amount of post-consumer recycled material is specified within the recycling symbol (PEFC, 2010).
Please visit their website to find out more about their logo and the paper products they endorse.
[1] Adapted from Wasteonline (2010) http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/paper.htm
Useful links
National Association of Paper Merchants www.napm.org.uk/recycled_mark.htm
Wasteonline www.wasteonline.org.uk
Forest Stewardship Council www.fsc.org.uk
PEFC www.pefc.co.uk/
Alocalprinter www.alocalprinter.com/uk/recycled-paper/
WRAP www.wrap.org.uk
Confederation of Paper Industries www.paper.org.uk
