Paper Waste Facts

Paper Waste — A Look at the Facts

When it comes to talking about paper waste, we’ve heard it all before. Paper waste is bad…you should make better choices….and so on. But what does it all really mean? Why is paper waste such a bad thing, doesn’t it eventually decompose and disappear anyway? In order to start making better choices for you and your business, you have to truly understand the issue and why it matters.

Even in the digital age with paperless technology at our fingertips, the impact of paper waste is massive:

  • Each year, the world produces around 400 million tons of paper to meet consumer demands. That’s about 4,800 trees.
  • The pulp and paper industry is the third largest industrial polluter to air, water and land in both Canada and the United States, and releases well over 100 million kg of toxic pollution each year such as chlorine, mercury, lead and phosphorus.
  • The industry uses more water to produce one ton of product than any other industry.

Learn about the impact of paper waste on the environment and what you can do to make a difference.
Paper accounts for around 26% of total waste at landfills. When paper decomposes in landfills, it produces methane, a climate changeing gas with 25 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide.

Businesses are a leading culprit

50% of the waste of businesses is composed of paper and on a daily basis, 45% of the paper printed in offices ends up in the trash! This daily lifespan occurs for over a trillion sheets of paper per year, worldwide. Packaging also makes up a whopping 1/3 or more of our trash.

Learn about what you can do to to reduce your carbon footprint with your next promotion.
Did you know that 93% of paper comes from trees. Pulp and paper industry uses between 33–40% of all industrial wood traded globally.

Why does this matter?

A tree can absorb up to 48lbs of CO2 per year and produce enough oxygen for 2 people to breathe. Growing populations means more trees are needed to sustain us, yet we are depleting our precious forests everyday.

See how big a difference choosing recycled paper products can make.
Recycling 1 tonne of paper saves around 1400 liters of oil, 26,500 liters of water and 17 trees. Producing recycled paper requires about 60 percent of the energy used to make paper from virgin wood pulp. It also requires fewer and safer processing and bleaching chemicals than those required to make virgin wood pulp.

FACT SOURCES: theworldcounts.com | dartmouth.edu | archive.epa.gov | environmentalpaper.orgwwf.panda.org | statistica.com


How you can make a difference

  • Go paperless whenever possible by choosing to review and store documents digitally.
  • Use recycled paper at home and in the office.
  • When you must print and copy, be sure to use both sides.
  • Adjust fonts and formatting to fit more text on a standard sheet.
  • Reuse paper whenever possible. The backside of sheets can be used for note-taking, sketching and more.
  • Encourage others to do the same and share this article.

See how using seed paper for your next promotion will contribute to habitats for bees and other important pollinators.

Seed Paper is an eco-friendly alternative that saves trees and doesn’t produce waste.

At Botanical PaperWorks we understand that paper communications are vital in today’s world, both on a personal level and in business. That is why we produce biodegradable seed paper that is embedded with wildflowers, herb or veggie seeds that grows when the paper is planted in soil. No waste is left behind! Plus, it also uses post-consumer and post-industrial material to save trees. By choosing seed paper for eco-friendly events, promotional products, business cards and more, you can reduce your carbon footprint and contribute to habitats for bees and other important pollinators.

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