Paper recycling is easy and important

Recycling paper is one of the easiest and most effective ways to contribute to the recycling system. There is a ton of paper products produced and sold each day, and they space they take up in trash containers and dumps is significant. Paper should be stored in a suitable recycling bin and then recycled, as it is one of the easiest and most effective products to undergo this process.

Here are some important facts regarding paper recycling, all courtesy of the EPA:

• Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil, and 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough energy to power the average American home for five months.
• Each of us uses approximately one 100-foot-tall Douglas fir tree in paper and wood products per year.
• More than 400 paper mills in the United States use at least some recovered materials in their manufacturing processes, and more than 200 of those mills use recovered fiber exclusively.
• Recycling paper instead of making it from new material generates 74 percent less air pollution and uses 50 percent less water.
• Producing recycled paper requires about 60 percent of the energy used to make paper from virgin wood pulp.
• Just over 48% of office paper is recovered for recycling. This becomes raw material for paperboard, tissue, and printing and writing papers
• Over 73% of all newspapers are recovered for recycling. Almost a third goes back into making more newsprint. The remainder is used to make paperboard, tissue, and insulation, or exported.
• Recycled paper can also be made into paper towels, notebook paper, envelopes, copy paper and other paper products, as well as boxes, hydro-mulch, molded packaging, compost, and even kitty litter.

Recycling paper always starts with the right recycling bin which when properly placed encourages people to recycle who might have passed up the notion. Paper recycling is easy and very important for the environment.