Although this the 21st Century for serious Technology, Electronics, and Gadgets, people still use a lot of paper the world over as paper is necessary for lots of things. It is noted that about 70 million tons of paper are used in the United States alone. And it is also mentioned that paper is recycled more than any other waste product in the United States! This is because of its massive advantage of recycling paper, which, as everyone knows, saves us a lot of money, energy, water and most of all, space for dumping waste. By recycling paper, it also reduces the greenhouse gas emission, and also the recycled waste material is sustainable and a cost-saving method for making new paper products.

Paper recycling

Paper recycling has been here to stay for a very long time. It was started as far back as 1,800 years ago since the paper was first manufactured on a tiny scale. In those days, it was made from discarded materials. The first piece of paper was invented by a Chinese Official named Ts’ai Lun in 105 A.D., at Lei-Yang, China. He first began with toying with the idea of making paper and started with using up a mix of rubbish like rags, used fishing nets, hemp and grass to make the first-ever real piece of paper however, before he made this piece of paper a lot of ancient time people of the bygone era used the papyrus paper for writing.

This was made from a thin piece of reed, made and used by ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, who then created this weed paper-like material as papyrus paper to write on. This is how the name ‘Paper’ first originated.

The paper that was invented by Ts’ai Lun was a crumpled piece of paper. But later, as it spread widely across other countries and continents far and wide, paper making began, and thus, it was improved, and so did the quality of the paper that was produced.

When did paper making begin?

In 1690 William Rittenhouse began to learn and make paper in Germany and founded his first Paper Mill Company in America in Philadelphia. This paper was made with rags cotton and linen. Not until the 1800s that people started chopping up trees and begin to make paper from trees and wood fiber.

In 1800 an English papermaker named Matthias Koops was given the first patent of paper recycling titled ‘Extracting Ink from paper and converting such paper into pulp.’ Thus began the real birth of papermaking and the deinking process in the UK by Koops. So in 1801, Koops then opened his first Paper Mill Company in England, and this was the first company to produce paper from material other than cotton linen and rags. But sadly, a year later, his company went into bankruptcy and was closed down. But because of his ingenuity in papermaking, very soon, other paper mills started to sprout the world over, and paper recycling began as a lucrative business.

The Municipality of the USA began paper recycling in 1874 in Baltimore, Maryland. This was the country’s first recycling program. And in 1896, the country’s first paper Recycling Center was opened in New York. From those first steps to now, paper recycling waste paper has continued to grow until today. More paper is recycled than glass, plastic, and aluminum and other waste material products.

How much paper is recycled every year?

Following the recent research studies, 65% of the paper used in the United States are utilized in the recycling process for a total of 51 million tons. This is a 90% increase in the recovery rate since 1990 stated by the American Forest and Paper Association. 80% of paper mills use some recovered paper fiber to produce new paper and paper boards in the US. Paper can be recycled only seven times, after which the fibers become shorter and weaker and brittle, and then this has to be discarded.

By recycling paper, it also saves space and prevents the need for filling up land with waste material and garbage. About 28% of trash is filled in landfills, and one ton of paper takes about 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. So by recycling paper and cardboard saves a vast amount of space that is used for trash and garbage that cannot be recycled, thus saving and eliminating the use of space in landfills, which in turn reduces the need to build more landfills. Also, people living in nearby areas do not like lands being filled up with all the garbage under the sun, as it is a severe health hazard and a one-way ticket to hell!!

This means to be a sure way of pollution of the planet earth, and its atmosphere and our precious health.

More things about the benefits of Recycling Paper

It also helps tremendously to save energy and water when the waste paper is made into pulp, whereas it costs more when the paper is used to make from wood, which is cut from trees. Recycling one ton of water saves energy, which is equivalent to the energy needed to power the average home for six months in a home. And also, this saves up to about 7000 gallons of water.

Recycling paper is one of the most practical ways to reduce the amount of methane and carbon dioxide in the air that we breathe. When the paper decomposes and disintegrates in dumpsites, it produces gas methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas with carbon dioxide, which contributes to global climate change. When trees are cut down to make paper, more carbon dioxide is released. So, processing the wood to make paper pulp uses fossil fuel gas energy releases more carbon dioxide. If you are going to recycle one ton of paper, this can reduce greenhouse gas levels by one metric ton of carbon dioxide.

When recycling is done, it can preserve the trees and forests. This can save about 17 trees by every 1 ton of recycled paper. Recycled paper is a friendly recourse for paper manufacturers who want to save on costs and energy. But paper can be recycled only seven times as the fibers get short. Materials that contain short fibers can always be made into garden compost, burned for fires and energy, or used for filling up of land.

Recycling benefits

Saves Trees

If you recycle paper, this will save a lot of trees from being cut down. Trees are needed on this earth to provide oxygen for the planet to survive. If 1 ton of paper is recycled, you can save about 17 trees. It will also collect and protect a lot of wildlife in the forests, birds, beasts, and insects that make their homes in trees.

It seems to be pretty cheaper and easier to buy the recycled paper as it is more cost-effective than the paper that is made straight from wood pulp. The more the paper is recycled; it encourages the manufacturer to recycle more paper waste products to recycled goods, thereby being a sustainable Recycling Industry.

Making new paper from wood pulp consumes more water whereas if you recycle waste paper, then the water consumption is much less. Water is precious so that recycling can save lots of water and energy.

This is a win-win to all!

Save power and electricity

It can also save power and electricity, which is energy. You can save about 400 kilowatts or hours of energy by recycling paper rather than making a fresh batch of paper. Making new paper will consume more electricity and energy.

By recycling more paper and products, the use of oil can be prevented as much as possible. Oil is fine pollution on the planet earth, so if there is some way of reducing the consumption of fuel, it must be taken into consideration. You can save 2 barrels of oil per ton of recycled paper. So each time waste paper is recycled, how many barrels of oil can be saved?

There will be less pollution when the paper is recycled as it will stop the burning of paper waste in fires and incinerators when smoke emits out into the atmosphere causing immense health hazards and air pollution, both bad for man and beast, causing lung disease and other illnesses among mankind. The air will become foggy and bad, with more smoke emissions and the burning of waste material.

Job opportunities

There is a large number of people work in the paper producing industry. So the more the paper is recycled, the more jobs will be created for those seeking jobs. Collectors, sorters, and machine operators the whole works will be needed for employment. Businesses, please note!!

Paper is the most comfortable material to recycle. This is a good place to start for those who have not yet done any recycling. Once you start on it, you will be hooked for life in recycling, and once you get to do it, maybe you will want to continue it as a small business venture of your own or perhaps as a hobby for creating handicrafts from recycled material.

Paper is made from fibers called cellulose; paper is a highly versatile material that is used in every industry. Over 400 million paper and cardboard are produced every year. Half this is from recycled paper waste and from real paper, which comes from trees or called wood pulp. 50% of it comes from the left over’s from offices and businesses and industrial waste, like paper trimmings, unsold magazines, and newspapers, etc.

Strong Products

The paper fibers that come from corrugated boxes are powerful. So they cannot be used many times for recycling, and this will also help the need for manufacturers to cut down on tree cutting. By preservation of the forests, rivers, and lakes, erosion can be prevented. It will also improve the air that we breathe by removing carbon dioxide. The wildlife and roaming beasts of the forests can roam in peace in their habitat without the fear of their natural homes and trees being cut down, and the air is polluted.

So if you start now, from the very beginning from your own home or school and or office, the advantages of recycling will be tremendous. This will include so many benefits, such as saving lots of lots of paper, energy-saving water, and no longer needing those acres and acres of land for trash dumping.

Businesses and companies use a variety of printed paper. It takes a lot of paper for printing office items, which will use a great deal of paper. Companies that know the value of recycling waste paper as a necessity will be very responsible in the recycling project or business because they see the need and importance of recycling paper, as it will be both beneficial and good for the environment. Not forgetting that they will become a very recognized and reliable company by setting up a good lead and example to other companies to follow suit in the recycling of paper waste.

The good reasons for Businesses to recycle

By recycling paper, it will help;

the environment

economically

reduce waste and improve efficiency all around

By Recycling paper there will be a better clean greener picture

Recycling paper helps the environment

If all business offices and companies strictly undertake to recycle their own waste paper products, what a vast amount of water, energy, and other resources will help to make a greener planet on this earth. It will save so much money and waste; it will lead to significant improvements in the country if everyone follows suit. And what a difference it will make to the environment

Recycling paper is Economic

Small steps to improve the awareness of recycling in an office or business shop will lead to significant savings in the business or office. When ordering something for printing, it will be feasible to print on both sides of the brochure or whatever you need to get done printed on both sides of the paper of only on one side; this can save money and time for the business or shop.

The company can also save money by cutting down on paper waste by recycling small amounts of paper in the office itself. Every remaining bit of paper or used paper can be made use off in the office, thus affecting some small ways of saving and conserving.

Recycling it will reduce waste and Improve efficiency

Recycling will reduce waste. This is by reducing the waste being taken to a dump heap for the dumping of trash. Consequently, this will reduce the amount of waste produced by the said company or office, as taking out the waste material to dumping grounds can be very costly for any office, business, or shop. As they will charge for transporting, collecting, weighing, etc., and the number of times garbage is collected up from the site, thus eliminating the cost for waste services.

The recycling paper will promote a better and cleaner environment

Having a good business that supports the right and environmentally clean image to the public is very good for its business promotion, as this will show that it is a trustworthy company because of its use of recycled waste paper. This will enhance their Company image. A small note or logo on the office notepaper will highlight that this company uses recycled paper. This will show that they are a very responsible civic conscious type of company. Most of all, this will attract more clients to the company, and it will promote a high green print.

The recycling paper promotes jobs

When a paper is recycled in large businesses, there is scope for a lot of new employment opens in the environmentally friendly field of greens. More jobs mean more consumers with disposable incomes. This will help everyone not only just the company but for their business to thrive economically and adequately wise, which will help the growth of business in the manufacturing of waste paper.

Every company relies on banners, flyers, brochures, business cards, booklets, etc. for the promotion of their goods or other business matters. Recycling these papers will have a lot of benefits for all businesses. It will be a rich source of wealth as it will improve the company’s business image in the market.