Paper Production & The Environment

Paper Production & The Environment

Rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere is one of the major causes of global warming and we contribute to it in just about everything we do.

Trees have evolved over millions of years to become incredibly efficient and powerful at withdrawing carbon from the atmosphere. They absorb carbon dioxide through tiny pores in their leaves and store it in their wood, bark, leaves and soil. Trees also help to combat salinity, reduce soil erosion, provide windbreaks, clean underground water systems and provide habitat for wildlife.

Recent World-first research by the Australian National University, contained in their Green Carbon Report, has revealed that unlogged native forests store three times more carbon then previously thought. According to The Wilderness Society, this research confirms that Australia has some of the most carbon dense forests on Earth – and that logging and clearing them has significant climate implications.

Logging also releases carbon in the atmosphere. ANU research shows that the logging each hectare of the giant Eucalyptus regnans forests in Tasmania and Victoria releases over 1,000 tonnes of greenhouse pollution.

Only a small portion of the carbon removed from logged forests ends up as durable goods and buildings, which retain absorbed carbon for thousands of years. The remainder ends up as pulp and paper.

According to The Wilderness Society, the logging industry has been misleading the public by claiming that logging is good for climate change because young re-growth forests suck up more carbon than old growth forests. What the logging industry conveniently ignores is the massive carbon loss that occurs when the original forest is logged.

Additionally, precious water supplies are lost through the logging of water catchments. The Victorian government allows the logging of five of Melbourne’s water catchments which supply over half the city’s water. Logging in water catchments reduces both the quality and quantity of water coming from the catchments.

Worldwide, the pulp and paper industry is the fifth largest consumer of energy, accounting for 4 percent of all the world's energy use. The pulp and paper industry uses more water to produce a ton of product than any other industry.

Why Recycle?

Recycled paper has a much smaller environmental footprint than paper manufactured from raw materials. It uses fewer trees, less water, energy, landfill space and results in less pollutants being released to the air and water. (1)

It has been estimated that recycling half the world’s paper would avoid the harvesting of 20 million acres (80,000 km²) of forestland. (2)

Energy is needed to manufacture both virgin paper and recycled paper but much less total energy is needed to produce recycled paper. Industry quotes for typical energy savings from producing recycled paper range from about 28%-70%. (3)

Effluents from recycling plants have been found to have less environmental impact than virgin pulp effluents. Recycled paper also produces fewer polluting emissions to air and water. (4)

Recycled Paper – waste types
Pre-consumer waste is obtained from printers offcuts and run errors, so it has never been used by consumers, and may contain virgin fibre.
Post-consumer waste is material that has been previously used by consumers.

Papers labelled ‘recycled’ often contain both pre and post consumer waste content. To be sure you're not using virgin fibre paper, it is best to choose paper products with the highest post consumer waste content available.

Where is paper made?

According to Australian Paper Watch, most of Australia’s domestically produced office paper is made by the multi-national company Paperlinx (previously AMCOR). Australian Paper, a subsidiary of Paperlinx, has four mills located at Maryvale (Victoria), Shoalhaven (NSW), Burnie (Tasmania) and Wesley Vale (Tasmania). Fibre for photocopy paper is sourced primarily from native forest eucalypts in the Central Highlands & Gippsland region in Victoria.

Australian Paper Watch add that imported pulp is also used in paper manufacture in Australia. They believe this to be sourced from a number of overseas sources including Indonesia.

Indonesia's forest ecosystems and species are disappearing fast. A World Bank study estimates that the deforestation rate in Indonesia is higher than it has ever been at 2 million ha/year, representing an annual loss of forest equivalent in area to the size of Belguim. Imported pulps are reportedly often from unsustainable sources and come with a whole host of ecological and human rights concerns.

Victoria is blessed with the most diverse range of habitats of any state. Their forests are home to the tallest trees and biggest carbon stores on Earth. But as Australia’s most cleared state, the challenge in Victoria to protect nature is urgent. According to The Wilderness Society, Victoria is facing an extinction crisis, with 44% of their native plants and 30% of their wildlife extinct or threatened.

From Victoria, woodchips are turned into copy paper or exported to Japan, to be made into low grade paper products. Logged areas are then cleared by napalm burning.

Tasmania is home to the tallest hardwood forests on Earth - with trees reaching nearly 100 metres, and housing spectacular biodiversity. It is also home to some of Australia’s most voracious logging, with an average of 8,000 hectares of native forest are clearfelled and burnt each year.

The biggest native-forest logging company in Australia and the biggest hardwood-chip company in the world receives the overwhelming majority of logs destined for sawmills and woodchip mills from Tasmania. According to the The Wilderness Society, Gunns Ltd continue to cause destruction of Tasmania’s old growth forests, a vital habitat for the Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle and other endangered species, and more than 200,000 hectares still face destruction. The Wilderness Society and other conservation groups are actively campaigning against this destruction and have proposed extensions to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

Stop Press - New Pulp Mill To Destroy Tasmanian Native Forests: Tasmanian woodchipping giant Gunns Ltd is still planning to build a massive chemical pulp mill in northern Tasmania. This forest-hungry pulp mill will be a disaster for our climate, wildlife and future. It will also dump thousands of tonnes of poisonous effluent into Bass Strait every day, threatening marine life, tourism and the fishing industry. Please go to the Wilderness Society Website to find out more about this blatant exploitation of our environment, and what you can do to help.

How much paper do we use?

It is estimated that between 10 and 17 trees are needed to produce 1 tonne of paper - enough for around 7,000 copies of a national newspaper.
Australians consumed 3.26 million tonnes of paper products in 1997-8 and the consumption rate was predicted to increase to 3.7 million tonnes by 2003-4, or a whopping 185 kg of paper per person.

Pollution in the Manufacturing Process

Traditionally, paper is made white by toxic chlorine bleaching that has a negative impact on rivers, lakes, oceans and our health. Chlorine is used in a number of different forms: as elemental chlorine gas, chlorine dioxide or sodium hypochlorite. All result in the discharge of toxic organochlorine by-products. According to Greenpeace, organochlorines from pulp mills have been found in water, sediment and food chain as far as 1400 kilometres from their source.

Chlorine dioxide results in the production of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as dioxins and furans. POPs can cause nervous system damage, diseases of the immune system, reproductive and developmental disorders, and cancers in humans and other animals.

Dioxin is not easily broken down, and as a result ends up in soil, water, and on plant surfaces. From there it enters the food chain and the fats of fish, meat and into dairy products. Dioxins have been identified in products such as tissues, tampons, disposable nappies, coffee filters and bleached milk cartons & cigarette papers. Choosing paper products that are unbleached and processed chlorine free as well as avoiding meat & animal products are the best way to avoid dioxin consumption.

Alternatives to Chlorine Bleaching
Technologies are now widespread which enable complete elimination of chlorine gas from chemical pulp bleaching processes. The most established of the new technologies, with some 40% of the world bleached chemical pulp market, is Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) bleaching. ECF bleaching avoids use of chlorine gas by substituting chlorine dioxide as the main bleaching agent, often preceded by oxygen delignification. Effluents contain less total organochlorines and are less toxic than those produced by chlorine gas - but can still cause damaging effects.
Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) bleaching -the best for the environment as this process uses neither chlorine nor chlorine compounds and relies solely on peroxide, ozone and oxygen to achieve satisfactory whiteness. TCF bleaching is technically more difficult and, until recently at least, more expensive to retrofit on existing mills.

Air Emissions

Gaseous emissions of concern include hydrogen sulphide, oxides of sulphur, oxides of nitrogen and ‘dust’. Volatile organic compounds which can act as precursors in the formation of low altitude ozone, a component of smog which can have a serious effect on human health. In the US the pulp and paper industry is included in a category of ‘major sources of hazardous air pollutants’ because of the known presence of volatile organic compounds, chlorine, chloroform and hazardous metallic air pollutants in pulp mill emissions.

Uncoated vs clay-coated paper

Clay coated paper is generally much shinier than uncoated paper, and is often chosen for its glossy look. However, during the recycling process the clay coating is removed and is generally disposed of as waste, which reduces the amount of useful fibre per tonne recovered from recycling paper by approximately one third.

Eco Labelling

An eco label is an independent certification that ensures important key impacts are minimised for a product. Blue Angel - Germany; Nordic Swan - Denmark; and the Green Seal - USA). Most eco-labels are part of the Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN). Wherever possible select a paper that has one of these labels.
There are also environmental management schemes such as the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and International Organisation for Standards 14001 (ISO) environmental management system.

Inks in Printing

The composition of the traditional printing inks varies widely. Mineral oil based inks contain hazardous substances such as petroleum hydrocarbons (which release volatile organic compounds resulting in air pollution); cadmium, mercury, chromium (which are hazardous heavy metals used in pigments for colouring); or solvents used as a carrier or to aid in drying.

Vegetable based inks are manufactured from a renewable resource, such as soy or linseed oil. They are comparable in price and performance to high quality mineral oil based inks, and are in much wider use in recent times.

The environmental benefits of vegetable based inks include the reduction of volatile organic compounds (harmful to humans and contribute to smog) released into the atmosphere, do not contain hazardous heavy metals, and create a healthier workplace for printing staff.

Printing with vegetable based inks means that when the paper is recycled, less toxic residue is emmitted as waste.

Which papers are better for the environment?

Office Papers:

Evolve is the most environmentally friendly recycled office paper available in Australia. Made from 100% post consumer waste and totally chlorine free, it is a slightly off-white colour. Evolve Available in Australia from Ecocern.

Ecocern also stock a wide range of 100% post-consumer waste products such as envelopes and packaging supplies. They also produce their own brand of unbleached, 100% recycled paper.

Nautilus (also known as Canon 100) is 100% recycled, of which approximately 50% is post consumer waste. Made in Austria at the environmentally impressive Neusiedler mill. Archival quality of 100 plus years. Recommended for black and white double or single sided photocopiers and office printers. Available from - Canon 13 13 93, A. Moir & Co, Longbottom & Friends of The Earth.

Commercial Papers:

Resa Offset/Cyclus Offset 100% post consumer waste, process chlorine free, production waste & water is recycled and holds numerous Eco-Labels as well as EMAS and ISO 14001 accreditation. Produced by DalumPapir, one of the most environmentally proactive paper manufacturers in the world.

DalumPapir's environmental initiatives are based on a policy of addressing the entire life cycle of a product. Waste water used in production is recycled and returned to its source cleaner than it arrived. Waste generated from the recycling process is used to create other products such as fertiliser, cement and energy. Available in Australia from CPI Papers.

Envirocare 100% recycled printing paper containing 65% post consumer waste and 35% pre consumer waste. Manufactured in Austria by Lenzig Paper, it holds several environmental accreditations and is Elemental Chlorine Free. Available from KW Doggett in Australia.

Options Recycled PC 100 100% post consumer waste, made using energy using wind power, is process chlorine free and the first recycled paper to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance's Smartwood Program. Available in Australia from Raleigh Paper.

EcoStar 100% recycled, bright white paper. 60% is post-consumer recycled and 40% is from post-industrial fibre recuperated from printers and converters. Processed chlorine free. Made in France at an ISO 14001 certified mill and available from Raleigh Paper.

Enviroboard 100% post consumer waste. Not photocopy paper. Made in Australia by Visy, used mainly by printers. Comes in off-white and brown. Also sold as Botany Brown. Available in a variety of weights. Available from Premier Paper & Raleigh Paper (marketed as Botany paper.)

Tree Free Papers:

Kenaf Kenaf belongs to the same plant family as cotton. It is an annual crop which is normally grown over the wet or summer season and is harvested for fibre soon after it commences to flower. Under good conditions kenaf will grow to a height of 5 to 6 metres in 6 to 8 months and produce up to 30 tonnes per hectare of dry stem material. Kenaf has been shown to be well adapted to production in northern Australia and can be grown on a wide range of soil types. It is tolerant of drought and relatively free from pests and diseases.

Though currently one of the worlds biggest consumers of wood-fibre papers, the Japanese pulp and paper industry is keen to increase its usage of non-wood fibres and has indicated that kenaf is the preferred feedstock. Currently, Japanese importers are experiencing serious difficulties in securing supplies of kenaf. This opens up an exciting opportunity for Australia to establish and develop this new exciting opportunity. According to the New Crops Newsletter, Ausfibres Pty Ltd is a company established to commercialise the Australian production of non-wood fibre crops, particularly kenaf, for the manufacture of pulp and paper, and other end uses. A proposal for a Kenaf paper mill in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, shows estimates that the workforce would be 300-strong, with an additional 180 ancillary jobs created to supply goods and services

Hemp From 75 to 90% of all paper in the world was made with cannabis fibre until the 1880s. These included books, Bibles, maps, paper money, stocks and bonds, and newspapers. Hemp can also be used as an additive to strengthen and improve quality in wood and straw-based paper manufacture. The main reason industrial hemp use has dwinled is because it became illegal to cultivate in some countries, even though the level of THC is too low in industrial hemp to cause any psychotropic effects. Powerful lobbies by the wood-pulp mills didn't help hemp's cause, especially in Australia, as they had large amounts of forests already at their disposal.

According to the website of Western Australian Company Hemp Resources Ltd, they intend to produce 100% hemp paper and hemp blend paper in Western Australia as soon as commercial growing areas are realised and the company’s paper mills constructed.

Seeded paper - Seed embedded paper containing seeds of Australian native trees and shrubs (typically Bottlebrush) - 100% recycled (apart from the seeds!) It’s ideal for promotions, fliers, invitations, Christmas cards. read it... plant it... watch it grow. Paper-Go-Round is Australia's source of Seeded paper.

Sugar Cane - Harvest Recycled paper is manufactured using 60% sugar cane fibre and chlorine free bleaching, but also contains pulp from sustainable afforestation. The sugar cane (bagasse – the material remaining after sugar has been extracted) fibre is sourced from the immediate vicinity of the mill – requires minimum transportation. All pulp used is bleached using an Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) process.
The wood fibre used in Harvest Recycled is sourced from internationally certified Well Managed Forests and accredited through independent third party Chain of Custody (CoC) certification. Available in Australia from Raleigh Paper.

Wheat Straw Wheat straw is being used to make paper products in the rural Western Australian town of Moora. The founder of River House, a small WA company, claims that a wood pulp mill costs five times as much as a straw pulp plant and uses 10 times as much energy. Furthermore, it takes 5 tonnes of wood to make one tonne of pulp, but only 1.5 tonnes of straw pulp. River House's new wheat straw pulp mill is set to produce five percent of our locally-made cardboard boxes.

Cereal Paper Temora NSW farmer-environmentalist Ian Thompson has begun a small business making paper from either cereal straw or pin rushes. Ian reduces the grasses to a pulp and presses them into paper to produce quality business cards and wedding invites.

Banana Paper The Costa Rica Natural Paper Company with its partner the major central American paper manufacturer The Simam Group, has formed the Costa Rica Natural Paper Company, which produces 100 percent recycled paper made from 95% post-consumer paper fibre and 5% banana stalks. College students grow, harvest and process the banana stalks. The end products include recycled staionery, notepads, journals, cards, boxes, art supplies and envelopes. There is no residual banana smell, but the texture is smooth and appearance very attractive. The high quality office papers can be used in printers and copiers. - E Magazine, Feb '97. Papyrus Australia has also begun making banana paper.

Poo Paper There are a number of small manufactures of 'poo' paper throughout the world. In Tasmania you can currently buy paper made from Kangaroo poo. Approximately 25kg of kangaroo manure makes 400 sheets of paper, which is becoming a souveneer of choice for tourists. In Scandinavia, elk poo paper is the stationery of choice in most offices, and elephant poo paper, manufactured from 75% post consumer waste and 25% elephant dung is collected by the elephant handlers in Sri Lanka and provides an extra source of income for the locals to care for the elephants. "Ellie Poo" paper is available from the Green Stationery Co in the UK.

Beer Paper Manufactured using hops, malt, yeast and beer labels. 40% to 60% beer labels, 5% to 20% beer fibres, 30% to 50% TCF pulp. A strong paper with a speckled finish. "Bier Paper" is available from the Green Stationery Co in the UK.

Many thanks to the following sources of information:

Australian Paper Watch

The Wilderness Society

Conservatree

The Environmental Paper Network

Scrap Ltd

(1) Study into current life cycle analysis work on paper production, recycling, and disposal indicate clear net advantages in the use of recycled paper. See for example www.ofee.gov/recycled/descript.htm and www.cfd.rmit.edu.au/programs/life_cycle_assessment/paper_packaging_lca.
(2) Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_recycling#Rationale_for_recycling
(3) Friends Of The Earth (UK) http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/paper_recycling.html
(4) Waste Watch www.wastewatch.org.uk

I have here, by cross referencing as many sources as possible, attempted to provide a brief overview of the paper industry in Australia from information currently publicly available.

Although I can take no personal responsibility for any information I have garnered from outside sources which may be incorrect, I would very much appreciate being informed if any of the info needs updating and/or correcting. I will do my best to update with new info as it comes to hand.

Lets stay informed to make a positive change!

Heide Hackworth,

Creative Director

I welcome your suggestions or comments for this page. Please email me at info@earthgreetings.com.au

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