Each year during the holiday season people begin decorating and buying gifts. For those that celebrate Christmas, an important decision is choosing a tree. This includes deciding if it will be a real or artificial Christmas tree – especially in the US and Canada. How does your decision impact the environment? Cost, convenience, and personal preference are all important considerations, but so too is the environmental impact.

Research has shown that locally-sourced natural trees have less environmental impact than artificial ones. An independent Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) study released by the Montreal firm Elliposos [1] determined that real trees have less overall impact in terms of distribution, disposal, and average carbon emissions than their artificial counterparts. The LCA method allows for evaluation of potential environmental impacts of a product (or service) over its entire life cycle and takes raw material processing, manufacturing, transportation, distribution, use, reuse, recycling and disposal impacts into consideration. [2]

When it comes to artificial trees, the key to achieving environmental gains lies in the amount of time they are kept and reused. Average households replace an artificial tree about every six years.  Evidence shows that, in general, artificial trees need to be reused for at least 20 years if they are to compare favorably with natural trees.

“It makes sense to choose the tradition that suits your needs while also considering the best environmental practices,” says Kathryn Fernholz, Executive Director of Dovetail Partners, a Minneapolis-based environmental think tank. “If you choose a real tree, you can get to know your local grower and recycle your tree at the end of the holiday season. If you choose an artificial tree, make sure to reuse it for as many years as possible.  Whichever route you go, your goal can be to pass the tradition of selecting a tree – or even the tree itself – down to the next generation!”

Additional environmentally-friendly measures you can take during the holidays include use of recycled and recyclable wrapping paper and greeting cards, use of LED holiday bulbs; and reuse and recycling of real trees and other decorations at the end of the season such as through collection programs, composting, wood chipping or planting.

[1] The study can be found here: Couillard, Sylvain; Bage et. all. “Comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Artificial VS Natural Christmas Tree.” Ellipsos. February 2009. 

[2] To learn more about LCA, read Dovetail’s report “Life Cycle Analysis: A Key to Better Environmental Decisions.”

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The words of Greenpeace co-founder Dr Patrick Moore are a good point of departure: “We should be growing more trees and using more wood. If [those] land owners had no market for wood, they would clear the forest away and grow something else they could make money from instead. When you go into a lumber (wood) yard, you are given the impression that by buying wood you are causing the forest to be lost, when in fact what you are doing is sending a signal into the market to plant more trees.”

Given that in South Africa, paper is made from farmed trees, we can easily replace the word ‘wood’ above with paper.

Paper goes beyond common A4 printer paper from which the flawed antidote of “paperless” has emerged.

Paper includes packaging – from the boxes in which computer equipment is protected during shipment to the box that teabags come in; from your morning cereal, to the label on the coffee jar, to the bag of sugar and to the milk carton; from the tissue box to the bag and box that contained your takeaway lunch. It also includes books, magazines and newspapers. And then the important things like toilet paper, facial tissues, paper towel, feminine hygiene and diapers.

I won’t even go into the number of fibre-based, cellulosic innovations that are set to rival fossil-based materials.

Paper saves forests

South African paper products are produced from a renewable resource, in the form of:

• Wood pulp from trees farmed sustainably managed timber plantations (not from the wood of indigenous trees)
• Recycled paper fibre
• Bagasse (byproduct from sugar cane processing)

Just like most industries, paper manufacturing has an impact on the environment, but this is mitigated through the carbon sequestration by plantations, and the release of oxygen; the use of biomass-based renewable energy (derived from by-products of the papermaking process), emission reduction and water recycling initiatives, biodiversity conservation at plantation level as well as the promotion of paper recovery and recycling.

Carbon capture

In papermaking, the timber is chipped, pulped and paper is made and converted into countless products that we connect with all day, every day – in the kitchen and bathroom, at the office, at the supermarket and while travelling.

Through the papermaking process, carbon (from the CO2 absorbed by the trees) remains locked up and out of the atmosphere. And by recycling paper, we keep this carbon locked up. Destined for landfill – a compact, anaerobic environment – paper (mixed with other waste) will degrade and release gases such as methane which is 25 times more potent than CO2.

While there is no doubt that digital technologies offer security, integration, immediacy and convenience, using the mantra of “saving forests” to promote digital means needs to stop. Because it is simply untrue.

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The Paper Recycling Association of South Africa (RecyclePaperZA), operating as a subsidiary of the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA), has for the past 13 years promoted recovered and recycled paper fibre as a vital link in the renewability chain.

Paper products are renewable because they are made from plantation-grown trees that have been planted, grown and harvested in cycles – and then the land is renewed with new trees which in time will provide a fresh fibre supply.

Through the process of photosynthesis the trees from which paper is made absorb carbon dioxide and convert it into oxygen. Retained carbon remains locked inside the wood fibre throughout the paper-making process.

Paper is also recyclable – what was your newspaper yesterday may be part of a cardboard box next month.

In 2014, 64% of recoverable paper was collected for recycling which means that more than one million tonnes of paper was collected, helping to reduce pollution and lessen the effects of climate change.

However if paper products are sent to landfill, they combine with materials like food waste and degrade. This process releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. One such gas is methane which is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Beyond the environment

But in SA, paper recycling goes beyond environmental sustainability as countless people turn to the recovery and on-sale of recyclables to make a modest living.

RecyclePaperZA, with financial assistance from the Fibre Processing and Manufacturing sector education and training authority (FP&M Seta), presents entrepreneurship training courses.

From major cities to outlying rural towns, RecyclePaperZA has empowered over 3,300 informal collectors empowering them with the knowledge and skills required to start and run a sustainable small business within the recycling domain. Collectors attend the courses free of charge.

Higher prices are paid for separated, good quality recyclables and thus the importance of separating at source is stressed during the course.

Empowering and encouraging everyday citizens

RecyclePaperZA cites a number of entrepreneur success stories. Lydia Anderson-Jardine who attended the course in 2011 in Cape Town soon secured the contract to collect all paper from the City of Cape Town municipal offices as well as Somerset Hospital. Employing 21 people and recovering nearly 120 tons of paper monthly, Lydia’s success inspired her son Rowen to partner with Elim Night Shelter in Elsiesrivier and establish the Wastewant Youth Recycling Cooperative. The project seeks to remove unemployed youth from the grips of drug and alcohol abuse by providing them with a stable opportunity to earn an income.

In SA’s KwaZulu-Natal province the Udondolo recycling cooperative in Cato Manor, outside Durban was established after three people from the cooperative attended the RecyclePaperZA training, and shared their skills with others.  The project now employs approximately 23 people, ranging in age from 23 to 72. Udondolo beneficiaries have even started hand-making secondary products from some of the recyclables they collect. “They are more conscious about the waste in their community and that waste is not really waste at all,” said Beryl Shezi from the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Students in Free Enterprise organisation.

The entrepreneurship course offering has been embraced by many municipalities across SA who have invited RecyclePaperZA to present one-day workshops to municipal employees and collectors. By working with all tiers of government to inform policy, educate officials, and upskill communities, RecyclePaperZA is part of creating more effective, efficient waste management systems.

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Organisations like the Paper Recycling Association of South Africa (RecyclePaperZA) are working towards a ‘recycling-minded’ society by teaching ordinary people how they can make an extraordinary difference – with everyday items.

“Separating paper and cardboard products from home, school and office waste and keeping it aside for conversion into other products has many benefits, both for the environment and the people who make a living by collecting recyclables and selling them on to buy-back centres and paper manufacturers,” says RecyclePaperZA operations director Ursula Henneberry.

RENEWABLE AND RECYCLABLE

The paper products we come into daily contact with – ranging from office paper and newspapers, medicine boxes and magazines, juice and milk cartons to cardboard cores from toilet rolls – can all be recycled.

They are also completely renewable because, at some point, their fibre would have come from sustainably and responsibly farmed trees that are planted, grown, harvested and replanted in cycles.

Recycling also keeps the carbon originally stored in the wood fibre of trees locked in paper products and out of the atmosphere for longer.

Unfortunately large quantities of paper still end up in landfills, which are rapidly running out of space, and add to greenhouse gas emissions when paper decomposes with other waste.

“During 2014, 64% of recoverable paper was recycled, 2% more than in 2013 and 5% more than in 2012,” says Henneberry. “For every tonne of paper recycled, up to three cubic metres of landfill space is saved – land that could be better used for housing, agriculture and infrastructure. During 2014, South Africans recycled 1.1 million tonnes, enough to fill 1,276 Olympic-sized swimming pools.”

But we need to do more. It is estimated that only 5% of households recycle paper.

RecyclePaperZA advises that householders keep recyclables aside for an informal collector who walks your neighbourhood every week. “This increases the quality of the recyclables, allowing the collector to earn a little more.”

TRASH IS TREASURE

“In a country with high unemployment rates and accompanying poverty, paper recycling is becoming a source of revenue for a growing number of people. An estimated 35,000 people put food on their tables by walking the streets to collect ‘waste’ in return for cash or work for larger companies to recover, sort and weigh recyclables for conversion into usable and commercially viable products.

The pulp and paper manufacturing industry is a key sector in the South African economy. Importantly, it employs a workforce of more than 150,000 people across the value chain – from forestry, to pulp and paper manufacturing to informal collectors. These people in turn collectively feed, clothe and school around 900,000 dependants.

“Companies that produce paper products run major mills specifically designed to turn today’s phonebooks, magazines, notepads, company minutes, milk cartons and cereal boxes into tomorrow’s egg containers, corrugated boxes and board, newspapers and tissue products,” states Henneberry.

“Some 65% of recovered paper is used as fibre, without which these mills would stand idle, unable to manufacture the pulp used to produce materials for products manufactured in South Africa and exported around the world.”

You can get involved by separating all kinds of refuse, starting with paper and moving on to plastics, glass and cans.

Paper products you can recycle:

• all office paper
• coloured paper
• newspaper, magazines (even glossy ones)
• catalogues, phonebooks
• direct marketing leaflets
• cardboard packaging of all kinds, shapes and sizes – boxes used for moving; electronics, shoes, gifts and cereal
• paper towel and toilet paper cores
• food packaging (unwaxed only please)
• shredded paper (in plastic bag to minimize blow-away)
• milk, juice and liquid cartons (should be empty)
• books: all soft cover, hard or plastic covers should be ripped off
• pizza boxes (food and wax paper removed)
• brown paper bags

Remember, paper should be separated from wet waste so it does not get contaminated.

Paper products you shouldn’t recycle

• Tissue paper and paper towel
• Wax paper
• Used cement and dog food bags
• Disposable nappies
• Plastic lined papers
• Foil lined papers

RECYCLING PROGRAMMES

• Visit mywaste.co.za for programmes in your area.
  • Enrol in a free kerbside collection programme.
  • Find a drop-off centre near your home or office, usually at local shopping centres.
• Check with local community centres, places of worship or schools if they have a paper recycling programme from which they benefit financially.
• Contract the services of a small recycling business.

Clean-up SA and Recycle Week takes place between September 14 and 18, and National Recycling Day is celebrated on Friday, September 18. International Coastal Clean-up Day takes place on Saturday, 19 September.

The post Discover the treasure in your trash first appeared on The Paper Story (PAMSA).

 The ICFPA’s Statement on Climate Change is available at: http://www.icfpa.org/uploads/Modules/Publications/icfpa-statement-on-climate-change.pdf

“Trees, especially those in well-managed forests, absorb carbon dioxide,” said ICFPA President Donna Harman. “Carbon dioxide remains stored when trees are used to make forest products, and that storage can be prolonged through recycling.”

Renewable energy producer

In addition, the forest products industry plays an important role in contributing to the production of renewable energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels by using residuals and byproducts to produce much of the energy required for its operations. These residuals and byproducts, known as biomass, are carbon neutral when combusted for energy, according to the international carbon accounting principle.

South African context

The South African forestry sector plants an average of 260 000 trees daily. Some 600-million trees are grown across 762 000 hectares specifically for pulp and paper manufacturing. These plantations are among the world’s best in terms of sustainable forestry management and include biodiversity-rich conservation areas and grasslands as part of the managed area.

The local paper value chain employs 149 000 people from planting trees, manufacturing paper and sorting and processing paper for recycling. “The forest products industry is providing a wide range of renewable bio-based products that are used by homes and businesses on a daily basis,” says Jane Molony, executive director of the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa.

The ICFPA represents more than 30 national and regional forest and paper associations around the world. Together, ICFPA members represent over 90 percent of global paper production and half of global wood production.

More information

For more information about the sustainability of the global forest and paper industry, visit icfpa.org. Information on the South African sector can be found at paperstory.co.za.

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“Sadly only 5% of homes actively recycle their paper and board,” says Paper Recycling Association of South Africa (RecyclePaperZA) operations director Ursula Henneberry.

National Recycling Day on Friday, 14 September, is the perfect opportunity for South Africans to take a more active role in recycling, in the home and at the workplace.

The simplest way to green our future

Paper, one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable products, is made from farmed trees, just as your morning cereal was made from farmed wheat or corn. Plantation trees help to absorb carbon dioxide from and release life-giving oxygen into the atmosphere.

Trees, and thus paper and wood products, store this carbon as solid matter. By recycling paper, we can ensure that this carbon is kept out of the atmosphere for longer. Paper recycling is one of the simplest ways that we can green our future.

“If we do not recycle, paper will rot among other rubbish and emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, which is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide,” says Henneberry.

A tonne of recycled paper can save up to three cubic metres of landfill space and subsequently reduce transport costs for local municipalities.

By recycling paper, milk and juice cartons, glass, aluminium and plastic, we contribute to less pollution and litter, and create a healthier, greener and cleaner society.

Top tips for aspiring recyclers

1. Do your research and find out which companies collect paper in your area. Visit www.mywaste.co.za for these details.
2. Do not mix your paper with other recyclables.
3. Do not let your paper get wet or soiled by other rubbish. Keep it under cover or in a closed plastic container.
4. Get to know what is recyclable and what is not. The following paper types cannot be recycled:

– Foil gift wrapping and foiled lined boxes
– Wax coated or laminated boxes such as frozen food boxes
– Empty cement and dog food bags
– Disposable nappies
– Carbon paper
– Sticky notes

1. Remember that juice, milk and custard cartons ARE recyclable. Simply rinse, flatten and place with your paper recycling.
2. Newspapers are best recycled within three months.
3. If you don’t have a formal recycling collection service or drop-off depot in your neighbourhood, consider putting your recyclables in clear plastic bags so that the people who sort through the piles of refuse on collection day are afforded some dignity by not having to trawl through your week’s household waste.

Give paper a new lease on life

Paper can be recycled up to seven times. Some virgin or new wood fibre is required to make recycled paper possible in the first place and is always needed to keep the global fibre cycle going. But have you ever wondered where recyclable paper goes or what it becomes?

• Corrugated boxes and magazines = new corrugated boxes
• Newspapers, magazines = newspapers
• Office paper, newspapers, printer offcuts = tissue products, kitchen and industrial paper towelling
• Office paper, corrugated boxes, printer offcuts, cardboard trims = cereal boxes, soap cartons
• Newspaper, cardboard trims = moulded paper products such as egg boxes.
• Milk and juice cartons = board paper.

Next time you open your grocery cupboard or medicine cabinet, think about the role that paper plays in your life in its various and versatile forms.

The post Why we should be recycling our paper first appeared on The Paper Story (PAMSA).

A greenbelt is best described as natural, undeveloped land which has been demarcated and set aside within an urban or developed area for the purpose of improving the ecological health of the built-up region, and acting as a ‘green lung’. 

The term ‘green lung’ is used since the plants and trees in a greenbelt can absorb and process pollutants, both from water and from the air, as well as store carbon dioxide whilst releasing oxygen back into the atmosphere.  Worldwide deforestation has contributed largely to the present problem of global warming and by planting trees and maintaining greenbelts, we can help to reduce, and possibly even reverse the impact of this condition which threatens life on our planet.

Deidre Nxumalo-Freeman, President of the IWMSA says “In addition to helping to limit urban sprawl, these greenbelts also provide space for light recreational activities and for city dwellers in particular, to retain a sense of connectedness with the natural world.

“These projects can also serve to enhance and bring together communities” continues Nxumalo-Freeman, “Quite apart from adding aesthetic appeal to sometimes drab urban areas and townships, trees play a crucial role in offsetting our carbon emissions, and from a practical point of view, they can provide resources in terms of shade, shelter and not least, food.

“Who can forget the inspirational Wangari Maathai who almost single-handedly changed the ecological landscape of her country, Kenya, in a bid to address the challenges presented by deforestation there?  Without trees, we too would face the prospect of soil erosion and a lack of water amongst a myriad other problems.

“The IWMSA encourages South Africans to recognise the importance of maintaining and continuously growing and improving our greenbelts and during this Arbour Week, to make an effort to plant a tree, whether at a school, in a garden or a community centre.  This simple action when undertaken by many has the potential to positively affect our quality of life” concludes Nxumalo-Freeman.

Every Arbour Week in South Africa, several species of tree are highlighted and in 2012, there are three: one common tree, the water berry or Waterbessie (Syzgium cordatum), and two rare trees, the Red Beech or Rooiboekenhout (Protorhus longifolia), and the Black Mangrove or Swartwortelboom (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza).

The IWMSA focuses on providing education and training for its members, as well as other interested parties, whether private individuals or government entities.

Source:

IWMSA – a non-profit organisation comprising a body of dedicated professionals in their respective fields, who give freely and voluntarily of their time and expertise in order to effectively educate, promote and further the science and practice of waste management.  For more information, visit: www.iwmsa.co.za

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1. What is the source of that statistic about 336 million sheets of paper wasted every day, and what exactly do you mean by “wasted”?
2. According to that statistic, one tree is “discarded” for every 8300 sheets — less than 90 pounds of office paper — that is “wasted”. But only one-third of that 90 pounds comes from whole trees; the rest is from sawmill residue and recycled fiber. What idiot is getting a yield of only 30 pounds of paper from an entire tree?
3. Paper is made mostly from renewable resources and has a high recycling rate. Ink and toner cartridges, including those with the Toshiba brand, are made mostly from non-renewable resources and are not often recycled. Have you considered that much of printing’s impact on our planet has nothing to do with paper usage?
4. Why is it necessarily better for the planet to read a report on an electricity-burning computer than on sheets of paper?
5. You promise to plant some trees if we take the pledge. Will Toshiba actually plant the trees, or are you paying someone else to plant them? Where will the trees be planted? What will happen to the land if no one takes the pledge?
6. You imply that the harvesting of trees is inherently evil. If private landowners can no longer make money from trees, they’ll seek other uses of their land. Would it be better if they planted wheat? Or maybe shopping centers?
7. American farmers “discard” far more than 40,000 corn plants every day in the process of harvesting them. Are you going to organize a No Corn, Ethanol, or Grain-Fed Meat Day?
8. Toshiba makes a variety of electronic products. Are you planning to celebrate a No-Toxic-Materials-in-Laptops Day?
9. If we take the pledge to give Tree a day off, how are we supposed to blow our noses on Oct. 23? And will Toshiba America offices remove the toilet paper from their restrooms that day?
10. Why the hell did Toshiba just exhibit at Drupa, the world’s largest trade fair for printers, if one of its divisions was going to turn around and publicly trash the entire printing industry?

• OK, Johnny, Now Greenwash Your Hands
• Google Using Blatant Greenwash To Promote New Catalog App
• Smackdown: Printed Editions vs. Digital Editions

The post Ten questions about Toshiba’s No-Print Day first appeared on The Paper Story (PAMSA).

Press release from the issuing company

“Toshiba may have meant well when it attempted to publicize its ‘print leaner and greener’ initiative with a ‘National No-Print Day’ campaign, but it was well off base when it pointed a finger at print as an anti-tree medium,” said National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph P. Truncale, Ph.D. “Despite this all-too-often repeated anti-print “save a tree” refrain, print and paper are simply not enemies of the environment.

“Reading a book on a tablet may be convenient, but it is not more environmentally friendly than reading a printed copy,” he continued. “Paying a bill online may be quicker, but it is not better for the woodlands than paying it by check. Why? Because paper is a renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable resource, while computers and other electronic devices are comprised primarily of one-time-use only metals and hydrocarbon-based materials, and they require energy created principally through the use of other non-renewable resources.”

NAPL has long pointed out that paper production uses trees, but it does not destroy forests. Paper companies depend on trees for their business, so they plant more trees than they harvest each year, carefully managing forests on privately owned lands for maximum tree growth and production.

In fact, despite the billions of sheets of paper that have been produced, the United States has about 12 million more acres of forest land now than it did a quarter of a century ago, and overall forest inventory has increased 49% over the last half-century. Every day, more than 1.7 million trees are planted in the U.S., nearly half of them (45%) by the forest products industry. You might say that every printed page helps plant a tree. By comparison, according to Time magazine, more than 130,000 computers are discarded by Americans every day.

The problem at landfills is not paper, which is recycled at very high levels, providing many towns and cities with an important income source. The real waste problem is the rapidly escalating number of discarded computers and other electronic components, which are not biodegradable and will sit in landfills for generations, taking up increasing amounts of space and ultimately leaching lead, mercury, and other toxic metals, hazardous chemicals, and plastic residue into the soil. Electronics now make up the fastest-growing part of the U.S. waste stream.

Everyone in the printing industry has the same interest as Toshiba in making our processes as environmentally friendly as possible, and we have all been working toward that goal for decades. Witness, for example, the growth of forest-certification and chain-of-custody programs, the new technologies that increase the paper yield per trees—in some cases, 90,000 sheets from a single cord of wood, and the use of renewable biomass fuels to power paper manufacturing—since 1990, purchased energy and fossil fuel use per ton of paper production has been cut by 26%.

As NAPL stated in an article two years ago, “The environmental impact of any communications process generally occurs at one or more of three stages: the creation of the medium being used for the message, the transmission of the message, and the conclusion or aftermath of the process. At each point, paper-based communications have a less injurious environmental effect than their electronic counterpart. Print and electronic media will coexist in the future and complement each other’s strengths. And one of paper‘s undeniable strengths is its position as an environmentally friendly messaging medium.”

Whatever Toshiba’s well-intentioned environmental goals may be,” said Truncale, “it is simply short-sighted and wrong-headed to suggest that the environment is harmed by the use of paper and printing.”

In Brief:

• Paper is a renewable resource, grown and replenished in managed forests; the precious metals and hydrocarbons required to create computers and other electronic devices are not—they require mining and drilling that can damage the surrounding ecosystem, and when they have been removed from the earth, they are gone forever.
• Paper is recyclable—nearly two-thirds of U.S. paper consumed is now recovered—and much is reused, more than one-third of the world’s total fiber supply now coming from recycled paper; computer components are used once—often after just a few years of rapid obsolescence—and then this toxic e-waste is discarded in landfills or shipped to developing countries.
• Paper requires only sunlight or the power of a single light bulb to be read and used; computers require a continuous stream of electricity generated predominantly by non-renewable fossil fuel energy sources. In 2006, for example, Internet data servers alone purchased twice the amount of energy purchased by the U.S. pulp and paper industry.

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