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FAQ: Secret Life of Paper

How much paper do we actually use?
Overall in the U.S. we consumed 99,778,437 tons of paper, or about 663 pounds per person, in 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available. We have direct contact with some of this paper — in the products we buy, in the mail we receive, and in our jobs, schools, or community groups and organizations. We have indirect contact with other parts of it, through the paper and packaging used by the government or by companies and businesses when they provide goods and services for us.

Do people in other countries use as much paper as we do in the US?
No, not nearly as much as we do. Because paper use correlates with the wealth of a country, it's not surprising to see huge contrasts between what we consume in the U.S. versus what people in poorer nations consume. Therefore, it's more revealing to notice the differences between the U.S. and European countries like Germany and the United Kingdom, which have standards of living very close to ours. Here is a graph that illustrates the contrast in paper usage in 2006 in select nations, the most recent year for which we have complete numbers.

What happens to all of that paper?
Only about 10% of the paper we consume in a year is preserved in the form of filed documents, photographs, and books or magazines. The rest becomes part of the municipal waste stream -- that is, the trash thrown out by both residential and commercial sectors. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), about a third of all the trash we generate before subtracting what’s recycled consists of paper products (see chart below). If we focus on just the subcategory of discarded packaging and containers, then paper products account for a little over half of this type of solid waste.

Doesn’t the paper just get recycled, so that it doesn’t matter if we throw it out?
Paper recycling does make a difference, and we’ve consistently increased the amounts of paper we recycle. EPA figures indicate that in 2006 the country as a whole recycled a little over half of the paper discarded.

While this is good, we know it is possible to do still better by looking at figures for paper recycling in Europe, where, for example, in Germany in 2005 the paper recycling rate was 74%. We also know from the Bureau of International Recycling, a trade association, that about 81% of paper discarded in a year can be recycled; the other 19% is either destroyed in use (e.g., toilet paper and cigarette paper) or contaminated (e.g., food wrappings and containers).

These figures tell us that we have the challenge of adding about another 25% of paper to the recycling stream. Learn more about recycling in our free resource guide (PDF).

Why does it matter that we consume more paper than other nations or don’t recycle as much as we could?
Today, paper is made primarily from wood fiber. The more paper we use, the more trees need to be cut down to provide fiber. About 80% of the world’s priceless ancient forests have already been cut down for fuel and for the raw materials that go into paper and other wood products. Recycling paper reduces the amount of new or virgin wood fiber needed for manufacturing by allowing for the fiber in discarded paper to be re-used. And reducing the amount we consume is even more helpful. Learn more about recycling and reducing your paper consumption in our free resource guide (PDF).

The loss of forests causes huge damage to our planet. Trees store about 20% of the carbon dioxide on earth, helping to stabilize greenhouse gas levels and our planet’s fragile climate. Forests also provide habitat for vast arrays of plants and animals, and help both to preserve the purity of our water supplies and to prevent soil erosion. These critical services don’t even touch on the recreational, aesthetic, and spiritual benefits people derive from forests.

Along with recycling and reducing our consumption levels, are there other things we can do as individuals to reduce the environmental impact of our paper use?
Definitely! As consumers, we can cast a vote for the environment by purchasing more environmentally friendly paper products. These include:

• paper products with high post-consumer recycled content --at least 30% for printing and copier paper
• paper produced without chlorine bleach -- called totally chlorine free (TCF) or processed chlorine free (PCF)
• paper with virgin fiber from sustainably managed forests that are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council

You can identify these characteristics on the cover of a package of paper, and can also get assurance of a product’s environmentally friendlier nature if it has the Green Seal or Green-e logo on it . Many national office supply stores like Staples carry environmentally preferable paper at very little or no difference in cost.

Can government policy make a difference?
Government – federal, state, and local -- is the largest single purchaser in the country and, therefore, government purchasing policies have a big impact on the environment and on what industry produces. If government policies required all government agencies and offices to buy just the three things we mentioned above – paper with at least 30% post-consumer recycled content, with no chlorine bleach, and with FSC-certified virgin fiber – that would help to transform the paper industry and greatly benefit the environment. The assurance that government would purchase a significant amount of environmentally friendly paper would promote industry investment in new machinery, chlorine-free bleaching processes, and virgin fiber that is FSC-certified to meet government specifications.

Governments could also do better by requiring its agencies and offices

• to use “best practice” recycling – that is, to make sure that high-quality paper like printing and writing paper gets recycled separately so that it can be made into more of the same rather than being “down-cycled” into lower-quality newspaper or toilet tissue
• to follow consumption-reduction strategies like double-sided printing and copying, making all standard forms and reports electronic, and replacing disposable paper items with reusable ones
• to report back on their annual purchases and paper use in order to be sure that the guidelines have been followed.

Can industry do things to make a difference?
The pulp and paper industry can also make important changes by increasing the efficiency of their production processes to use less energy and water, by increasing the use of recycled content in all grades of paper, by replacing chlorine and chlorine- compound bleaching with less harmful alternatives, and by sourcing their wood fiber from FSC-certified forests. However, it is our responsibility as consumers to let industry know that we will no longer purchase environmentally damaging paper products, and consequently, in order to keep our business, they must change their practices.

The publishing and printing industry can also make important changes. Some book, magazine, and catalog printers have already agreed to set standards for increased use of environmentally friendly paper in their publications, but many have not yet done so. Once again we can make a difference as consumers by letting publishers know we want our books, magazines and catalogs printed on paper with high recycled content, without chlorine bleach, and with virgin fiber certified as sustainable.

What about making paper from fiber that comes from plants rather than trees?
Research has identified a number of alternative sources for paper-making fibers that in some cases are as good as or better than wood. However, careful study needs to take place before deciding that any one of these options would be environmentally preferable on a commercial scale,. It is important to be certain that direct or indirect environmental damage wouldn’t result from substituting these fibers for wood-based material. For example, we need to know that forests won’t be cut down to plant alternative fibers, that they wouldn’t take cropland away from food production, and that they wouldn’t threaten existing habitats, either by directly displacing native plants or by introducing new species that could become invasive. Learn more about alternative fibers in our free resource guide (PDF).