24
Separating the Myths from the Facts
It’s a good news story...
Paper was invented nearly two thousand years ago and today it is an integral part of our daily life – just imagine life without it! Paper is the medium by which information is recorded and distributed. It is used for a variety of applications, from packaging to banknotes, napkins to playing cards. It can be read and worn as a garment. It may be made tough enough to withstand acid, or soft enough for a baby’s skin. The range of possible uses of paper seems almost limitless. Paper can be re-used and recycled, and it is made from a renewable source.
So why is it that paper is still the subject of so many misconceptions? For an industry that leads in recycling, and one that depends on a renewable resource as its raw material, the environmental story the industry has to tell is actually a good one.
MYTH
The Paper Industry is destroying forests
Around 11% of the timber felled throughout the world is used to make paper1
. Papermaking Look what
we’re cutting down
uses mainly forest thinnings and sawmill waste, thus utilising a product that would otherwise go to waste. The bulk of the tree goes to commercial industries such as furniture and construction. In the UK only 12% of land is forested and there are only 2 mills that use home-grown woodpulp. The rest is imported pulp sourced from predominantly fast growing species from well managed forests mostly within Europe. With responsible forest management, European forests have grown
by over 30% since 19502 and are
increasing by an area equivalent to 1.5 million football pitches every year - an area four times the size of London!3.
In fact, 73% of the fibre used in the UK to manufacture paper is recovered paper. Recovered paper is known as the UK’s ‘Urban Forest’. No forests will have perished at the hands of the papermaker.
1 FAO Statistics 2007 2 UNECE, FAO, The Development of Forest Resources 3 CEPI
MYTH
Paper is bad for the environment
Paper boasts some exceptional environmental credentials. It is natural, biodegradable, recyclable, comes from a renewable resource
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