What takes more energy to produce: paper made from recycled fiber or paper made from virgin fiber, and why?
Paper recycling offers abundant environmental advantages compared to virgin paper systems. The Paper Task Force has compared two complete systems of virgin and recycled paper use. These systems are (1) the production of virgin paper and its disposal in landfills or incinerators, and (2) the operation of paper recycling collection programs and the manufacturing of paper with recycled content. This comparison was made for each of the grades of paper examined in this project. The Task Force’s extensive research shows that paper recycling significantly reduces releases of numerous air and water pollutants to the environment, reduces solid waste, and conserves energy and forest resources. These environmental advantages generally are found across all comparable grades of recycled and virgin paper studied by the Task Force. (www.environmentaldefense.
Related Questions
- Is International Paper’s recycled paper better for the environment than the paper which is certified to have been produced with 100% virgin fiber?
- What takes more energy to produce: paper made from recycled fiber or paper made from virgin fiber, and why?
- Which takes more energy to produce, recycled or virgin paper?
