There Are a Lot of Myths About the Effect of Paper Production on the Environment
More and more businesses these days are paying attention to the effects of their various activities on the environment and this is a particular issue for those who produce a lot of printed material.
It affects not only the printing industry and suppliers of printers and copiers, but any business that uses their services and also produces documents in house even if it only the normal daily need for document print-outs and photocopies.
As a result many businesses focus on reducing their paper use and also try to buy stocks that are as environmentally friendly as possible believing that the world's forests are dwindling and their loss is contributing to global warming as fewer trees means less ability to store harmful carbon dioxide.
Trees are the main absorber of carbon dioxide in the world and it is said that a well managed forest that is used and replanted absorbs more CO2 than a mature forest of older trees.
A forest managed sustainably can be almost carbon neutral if logging is balanced with re-growth.
There are many misconceptions about paper and its production.
Much of the world's paper comes from sustainable sources and it is easy to check this.
There are more than 30 paper certification schemes in the world that ensure the paper people use has come from a sustainable forest source.
The two best known ones are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
The FSC has a carefully documented certification system that tracks paper literally from the forest through an independently verified Chain of Custody certification.
It covers every stage of paper processing, conversion, distribution and printing before the final product can carry the FSC label.
Many believe that paper making consumes a massive amount of energy, but this is not actually true.
To produce 200Kg of paper takes an average 500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity.
The industry is one of the most significant users of renewable, low carbon energy and over half the energy used to make paper in Europe comes from renewable sources.
In addition the paper industry gets more than 50% of its energy for production from biomass sources.
Biomass sources are such things as burning wood and waste materials from the pulping process to provide energy for the manufacturing process itself.
Sometimes paper producers actually create surplus energy that is then sold into the national grid.
Producing 200Kg of paper, which is the average amount of paper that each person consumes each year, creates an amount of CO2 of 130 - 250 Kg, which is about the equivalent of the amount of CO2 produced over 600 miles by the average family car.
Emissions of CO2 per tonne of paper produced have been reduced in the pulp and paper industry by 42% compared to 1990.
To put CO2 emissions into some perspective 14 kg of CO2 emitted is the equivalent of one 70 km car journey, or five Cheeseburgers, or nine litres of milk, or 6.
6 minutes of transatlantic flight.
Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Withers
It affects not only the printing industry and suppliers of printers and copiers, but any business that uses their services and also produces documents in house even if it only the normal daily need for document print-outs and photocopies.
As a result many businesses focus on reducing their paper use and also try to buy stocks that are as environmentally friendly as possible believing that the world's forests are dwindling and their loss is contributing to global warming as fewer trees means less ability to store harmful carbon dioxide.
Trees are the main absorber of carbon dioxide in the world and it is said that a well managed forest that is used and replanted absorbs more CO2 than a mature forest of older trees.
A forest managed sustainably can be almost carbon neutral if logging is balanced with re-growth.
There are many misconceptions about paper and its production.
Much of the world's paper comes from sustainable sources and it is easy to check this.
There are more than 30 paper certification schemes in the world that ensure the paper people use has come from a sustainable forest source.
The two best known ones are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
The FSC has a carefully documented certification system that tracks paper literally from the forest through an independently verified Chain of Custody certification.
It covers every stage of paper processing, conversion, distribution and printing before the final product can carry the FSC label.
Many believe that paper making consumes a massive amount of energy, but this is not actually true.
To produce 200Kg of paper takes an average 500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity.
The industry is one of the most significant users of renewable, low carbon energy and over half the energy used to make paper in Europe comes from renewable sources.
In addition the paper industry gets more than 50% of its energy for production from biomass sources.
Biomass sources are such things as burning wood and waste materials from the pulping process to provide energy for the manufacturing process itself.
Sometimes paper producers actually create surplus energy that is then sold into the national grid.
Producing 200Kg of paper, which is the average amount of paper that each person consumes each year, creates an amount of CO2 of 130 - 250 Kg, which is about the equivalent of the amount of CO2 produced over 600 miles by the average family car.
Emissions of CO2 per tonne of paper produced have been reduced in the pulp and paper industry by 42% compared to 1990.
To put CO2 emissions into some perspective 14 kg of CO2 emitted is the equivalent of one 70 km car journey, or five Cheeseburgers, or nine litres of milk, or 6.
6 minutes of transatlantic flight.
Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Withers
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