Believed to have originated from China in approximately the 2nd century AD, paper has proven to be a remarkably enduring material thus far. But what of the future for paper? What are the myths and realities about the sustainability of the paper industry?

Paper and the environment

Jonathan Porritt, Chairman of the UK’s Sustainable Development Commission and Founder of Forum for the Future, has said that ‘there are not many industries around that can aspire to become genuinely sustainable. The pulp and paper industry, however, is one of them; it is inherently sustainable’.

This is consistent with an observation by the Australasian Paper Industry Association (APIA) that ‘the paper industry has eight members in the UN’s list of the world’s 100 most sustainable companies, more than any other industry’.

Despite such comments, a recent UK survey by the National Association of Paper Merchants highlighted that 90% of media buyers believed the general public lacked understanding of the environmental impact of paper.

Contrary to some perceptions, paper is not the enemy of the environment and it doesn’t have to cost the earth. Paper is one of the few truly renewable and recyclable raw materials. Moreover, the paper industry has been facing up to its responsibilities and investing heavily in all areas of production and sourcing of raw materials to minimise its environmental impact.

Making paper does not destroy forests

Deforestation is mostly occurring in the tropics. According to research by ATS Consulting, the most common reasons for it are agriculture and fuel requirements, which between them account for half of all the trees cut down worldwide.

Managed forests are the source of most paper production. For every tree logged from a managed forest, three or four new trees are planted. As these trees grow, they absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere and, as with any wood product, they continue to store the carbon for the duration of their lifetime.

Forest certification schemes promote the use of wood from managed forests, using a ‘chain of custody’ certification system to track the tree from forest to consumer. There are a number of schemes globally, with FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) being the two most prominent. Over the last 10 years, more than 320 million hectares of forest (or 8.3% of the world’s total forest area) have been certified by these schemes.

Paper production and energy consumption

Paper producers have made great strides in reducing the environmental impact of their energy consumption. Many mills now utilise alternative energy sources, including hydro and bio-fuels.

On average, it takes 500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity to produce 200 kg of paper, the average amount that each of us consumes each year. To put it in perspective, this is equivalent to powering one computer continually for 5 months or burning a 60W light bulb continually for 1 year.

The other consideration is water consumption, a major factor in the paper-making process. Obviously, it is a significant issue in a country like Australia where water restrictions and concerns are prevalent. Encouragingly, great progress has been made by paper manufacturers in reducing water consumption. A 2006 Dutch report by Hoekstra and Chapagain estimated the global ‘water footprint’ for a number of day-to-day products: they found that producing a sheet of A4 copy paper takes 10 litres of water or 5000 litres per ream, compared to 15,500 litres for one kilogram of beef.

What about paper’s carbon footprint?

While the main raw material of paper, trees, is a vast carbon store and the primary absorber of CO₂ from the atmosphere, the precise carbon footprint of the paper cycle is difficult to pinpoint as it depends on how the paper is made and the source of energy used in production.

However, what we can say is that the more paper we use, the more trees are planted. The Confederation of European Paper Industries reports that in Europe, a major region for paper production, forest cover is increasing each year at a rate equivalent to 1.5 million soccer pitches. And globally, according to the APIA, individual forestry is estimated to result in the absorption of 1 billion tonnes of CO₂ per annum.

Paper fibre – recycled versus virgin

Using recycled paper is seen by many as an easy way to lower their business’s environmental footprint. Recycling has been one on the greatest environmental success stories of recent years, with a recycling rate across European countries of 62 per cent.

Paper fibres can be recycled up to six times and this is certainly the best way to keep waste paper out of landfill. Furthermore, producing paper from recovered fibre requires less energy and is generally a cleaner production process, and replacing virgin fibre with recovered fibre reduces the need to harvest forests.

What is the future for paper?

Paper is under pressure from other emerging technologies and the industry has been slow in communicating the environmental benefits of using paper and board. But things are happening. Forest certification schemes, recycled fibres and alternative energy sources are now commonplace. And as the carbon footprint of alternative communication methods becomes better understood, paper holds up as a sustainable option.

Paper has an integral role to play in environmental sustainability. Fact.

Grant Summers is Regional Manager with Spicers Paper, a member of the PaperlinX group.

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