How Green is Your Recycled Paper?

by Ross Lowe

While using recycled paper is good practice and a positive sustainability move, your choice should be careful and measured. Just how green is your recycled paper?

There is a plethora of environmental accreditations, FSC, PEFC, World Land Trust, TCF, ECF and a wide variety of recycled stocks. Which one fits your needs while also making a real difference to the environment?

Recycled paper is an environmentally friendly alternative to your virgin fibre pulp materials.

Recycling paper involves breaking it down into fibres and then repurposing it into new material. The benefits are numerous, both environmentally and economically, but not without possible pitfalls.

The most significant benefit of recycled paper is the reduction in the need for virgin pulp which helps conserve forests. Conserving forests plays a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance, supporting biodiversity and mitigating climate change.

How much energy is used in the recycling process?

The collection, transportation, sorting, chemicals used (we will come back to that later) and re-distribution of the newly recycled material. The new product also must be fit for purpose. Whether the new product is tissues, writing paper, newsprint or packaging, it must fulfil its criteria. Newsprint is a grey off-white because it has very few bleaching agents, as tomorrow it will be wrapping fish and chips or lining the bottom of your pet gerbil’s cage. Paper used to keep information and stored for many years, shouldn’t start to degrade after 12 months.

One of the challenges when recycling paper is making it rigid and making it look white. There are ongoing trials and research to find ways to use less harmful chemicals as binding agents in manufacturing. It would be preferable that the paper you choose has been produced using natural binding substances.

Also, the whitening agents used should be in keeping with environmental standards. Some stocks are ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) and some are TCF (Totally Chlorine Free). ECF uses chlorine dioxide which significantly reduces the formation of harmful dioxins, but TCF avoids chlorine compounds and associated pollutants altogether.

If, like us, you are using vendors in locations all over the world, you need to check the accreditation of your recycled paper. You may specify a competitively priced recycled paper in one region that meets your specification, but where is it produced? The environmental gain may be negated if it has a large carbon footprint for transportation.

There are many variables to consider when choosing the right recycled paper. As well as the environmental credentials, there are logistics, finance and availability to consider.

We are at the beginning of our carbon net zero journey. We are evaluating the materials we use and how to reduce their carbon impact. As we move forward, we want to ensure that our choices are informed and make a real difference, not just recycling the rhetoric of good intentions.