Paper can be reused into different types of recycled paper packaging such as paper boxes, shipping cartons, paper bags, greeting cards, business cards, notebooks, tissues… even shoe racks or home decorations .
While we have not yet focused on packaging recycling, with the following 5 characteristics, you will be surprised at the benefits of this work.
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Recycled paper packaging – Cost saving
The following numbers will surprise you about the benefits of recycling paper packaging products. On average, for every ton of paper reused, we can save:
- 24 natural forest trees;
- Oxygen enough for 12 people to breathe for a year;
- 39,084 liters of water is enough for 875 baths, each 5 minutes, enough to use for 3,000 toilet flushes;
- Nearly 4,000 kWh of electricity is enough to power a 3-bedroom house for 1 year;
- 605 liters of crude oil;
- Limiting an amount of CO2 equivalent to the emissions of 1 car for 6 weeks (95% reduction in pollutant emissions compared to the process of producing 01 ton of paper from wood).
That shows, using recycled paper will save a significant amount of money, human resources for businesses and society, which means the environment is better protected. According to data from paperbag.org, European countries are the world leaders in the field of recycled paper:
- Paper recycling rate in Europe is 71.5%.
- 59 million tons of paper are recycled every year
- Every second, 2 tons of paper are recycled.
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Conserve natural forests when recycling paper packaging
To meet the raw materials for paper production, natural forests are cut down and cut down in turn. When demand increases, people have to plant new trees and develop into production forests. However, production forests, although growing rapidly, do not provide the same wild habitat and biodiversity conservation as natural forests.
Therefore, recycling used paper packaging will limit the use of forest wood, helping to protect the natural ecosystem with the following specific benefits:
- Preserve and limit the exploitation of forests;
- Reduce pressure to convert natural forests and areas such as swamps into production forests;
- Help preserve the full value that the forest ecosystem provides.
Just by changing habits such as replacing plastic bags with recycled kraft paper bags when making purchases, replacing plastic boxes with recycled carton boxes, etc., we have contributed to protecting the forest and the environment.
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Using recycled paper packaging is a way to reduce CO2 emissions
While young trees absorb CO2 faster, older trees are able to store more CO2. If paper is recycled, it means that the number of old trees that get wood will decrease, which helps to store more CO2 in trees and reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
If paper is not recycled, it is buried and decomposed, it will form methane, causing the greenhouse effect.
Paper is made of wood – a natural and renewable material. As young plants grow, they absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Furthermore, as a wood product, paper also continues to store carbon throughout its life cycle.
For every 1m3 of wood, it will absorb 1 ton of CO2 and emit 0.7 tons of O2.
Statistics show that the average annual carbon storage of European forests reaches 719 million tons of CO2/year. This amount is equal to the CO2 emissions generated by Germany every year, including the energy industries, manufacturing and construction industries, transport, households, agriculture, wastes. Or the equivalent of 209 coal-fired power plants.
CO2 continues to be stored until the tree is cut down, and produced into products such as wood, paper packaging …
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Recycled paper packaging – Join hands to reduce solid waste
Paper can be recycled up to 6 times before being landfilled or thrown away, thus reducing the amount of solid waste significantly compared to paper that is used only once.
A sheet of A4 paper can be recycled into multi-purpose paper with many different roles such as paper boxes, food packaging, paper bags, cartons… At the same time, the area for handling paper waste will be replaced for planting trees, increasing protection of soil and water resources.
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Recycle paper packaging – Reduce waste water, improve water quality
There are two indicators to measure the impact of wastewater on the environment:
- Input: Amount of water required to produce paper
- Output: Wastewater to the environment
The pulp production stage requires a lot of water, the more the paper, the greater the amount of water. In addition, the amount of wastewater used to produce virgin pulp is also much higher than that of paper recycling, not to mention the nature of wastewater containing more toxins.
Therefore, if we recycle paper, we have contributed to protecting the living environment for the aquatic ecosystem.