why recycle paper

Paper and packaging make up huge proportions of most municipal and commercial waste streams and

therefore the paper industry is the UK’s largest recycler.

However, almost 5 million tonnes of waste paper are still sent to landfill or incineration each year. This means that the industry has to import fibre to meet its needs, which does not make environmental or economic sense.

Based upon wood, a natural renewable resource, paper is both biodegradable and recyclable. It is made up of many fibres that are interlaced and compacted in a web-like fashion.

Millions of tonnes of paper are produced each year. This is used for a wide variety of products and applications such as office paper, newspapers, envelopes, agricultural sacks, plasterboard and the packaging of all types of consumer, commercial and industrial goods

collecting waste

Material is collected through a variety of methods ranging from hand collection of sacks to large open top containers and compactor bins. Once collected, the material is taken to a recycling facility where it is cleaned, sorted into various grades and press packed into bale sizes that are acceptable to a mill (typically ½ or 1 tonne).

Material that is detrimental to the repulping process, such as metals, oil, some adhesives, plastics, wax and bitumen coated papers must be removed before baling can take place. This all adds to the recovery cost. Paper mills make a quality assessment of incoming raw material, and non-pulpable inclusions would lead to the material being rejected.

Organisations and sites that generate vast amounts of cardboard and paper may install their own baling equipment- in which case the bales would be collected and, according to size and amount, sent straight to the mill or back to a recycling facility for rebaling.

The ongoing development of new technology by the mill industry continues to increase demand for greater supplies of clean waste paper. Waste paper is a commodity internationally traded and subject to market conditions

Why do we recycle paper?

We have known for many years that, having done its job once, paper can again be used as reclaimed fibre to make new materials for the market place. Paper recycling was happening long before the environment became a big issue and it is a cost effective means of acquiring raw material.

What do recyclers mean when they are referring to “corrugated case materials?”

Simply put – cardboard. A material known as corrugated board is made by a conversion process in which three or more layers of paper (or paperboard) are laminated together. The middle ply, which is called fluting, is corrugated during the process and the outer layers, called the liners, are glued to its peaks. This makes a liner-fluting-liner sandwich.

The result is a light, strong material which has particular resistance to pressure applied to the vertical line of the corrugation. This gives the finished corrugated case a high stacking strength. It is these properties that have seen the corrugated case grow its market share, replacing traditional wooden and solid board boxes. Today corrugated case materials are the second largest of six sectors of the paper and board industry.

Are cardboard and paper recycled together?

No. It is usual for paper and cardboard to be sorted and baled separately and sent to the mills. Hence it is usually more cost effective and practical to collect separately.

How is cardboard and paper collected?

They are collected by a network of dedicated processors who will collect the material then sort it into grades and bale it ready to be accepted by the mills.

Why do we clean waste paper?

It is necessary to remove materials not suitable for repulping – contaminates. In a perfect world collected waste paper would be contaminate free. However, realistically there will be a certain amount of contaminate e.g. string, paper clips, plastics, waxed paper, paper with non-soluble glue etc.

Very slight amounts of contaminates can be acceptable, depending on what the contaminate is. However too much contaminate will lead to the bale being unacceptable to the mill.

Sometimes we are asked to put different types of paper into different containers, why is this?

Manufacturing mills that use waste paper require certain quality and grades of paper that have been found to be suitable for manufacturing different products. Also, waste paper is a commodity whose different grades and qualities carry different values.

It makes economic sense to separate high quality grades out. Paper is further sorted back at a recycling facility. There are over 50 grades of waste paper divided into 11 groups. These groups cover material that can be used for recycled newsprint, tissues and industrial wipes, stationery and packaging.

Why is waste paper baled?

After the paper has been cleaned and sorted into grades it goes into a baling press that produces bales that are at least ½ tonne in weight. This is to make the paper easier to handle by forklift and bale clamp trucks. The bales are then stored ready for transported straight to a mill.

If you require further information about paper recycling, the following companies will be able to help.

Click on the links below to access their websites:

http://www.majalisna.com/w/zayed