The average British person uses 250kg of paper per year

Between birth and death the average person in the UK goes through around 20 tonnes of paper and paper products.

Each USA citizen consumes 312 kg per year

Finland holds the world record at 333kg per year per person.

Somalia has the world's lowest consumption at 20g per person per year, with Laos coming in at 570g per year; less than the average UK citizen consumes in one day!

World paper use is around 335 million tonnes per year and the UK consumes around 5 times the global mean. It has increased 400% since 1970.

In order to produce this quantity of paper from virgin wood pulp requires the clearing of 250 sq kilometres of forest per day. In practice a lot of it contains recycled material and other fibres but the paper industry still consumes 42% of all timber felled industrially, amounting 3 million hectares of forest.

The UK's largest source of paper pulp is Canada and over 90% of that is from natural forest rather than industrial forest (ie plantations). There is absolutely nothing sustainable about this.

MODULE 2: Waste

FACT SHEET - PAPER

What does 250 kg look like?20kg tissue products 120 toilet rolls

70kg cardboard packaging 2 large bales

50kg newsprint 500 newspapers

10kg assorted paper greetings cards, wrapping paper etc

100kg printed material 100 paperbacks, 400 magazines & catalogues, 5,000 sheets of reports, letters and printouts.

Paper production is the third most intensive use of energy in industry, accounting for 11.3% of all industrial energy used.

One single sheet of A4 paper uses (and contaminates) one third of a litre of water in its manufacture.

Each tonne of 100% recycled paper (1,000,000 A4 sheets) saves:

26 trees [12 metres in height and 15 - 20 centimetres in diameter]

26769 litres of water,

4,5 kw hours of electricity,

30 kg of air pollution

Toilet tissue is the one paper that can be made from 100% recycled pulp. Yet less than 10% of all toilet tissue sold contains a high proportion of recycled pulp according to a survey carried out by WWF. The majority is made from 100% virgin pulp.

Many toilet roll packs now carry the mark of the Forestry Stewardship Counil (FSC) which indicates that the pulp comes from managed forests. Whilst this is better than pulp from natural forests it should be pulp from recycled sources.

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> British Colombia, Canada, is home to a quarter of the worlds remaining ancient temperate rainforests

> Temperate forests are the most endangered forest type on the planet

> 90% of the logging in British Columbia occurs in ancient forests

> Over 40% of the trees cut in British Coloumbia are used to produce paper

What a waste!

References

European Environmental Paper Network

http://www.environmentalpaper.org/

Avoid wasting paper in the first instance. We take its availability for granted but precious resources are used to make it - namely our forests. It's manufacture also uses vast amounts of energy, the majority of which is produced from fossil fuels.

When you can find no further use for it, make sure it is recycled.

Whenever you buy any paper products, try to buy those with a high recycled content. Make a point of asking for them.

Do not print out from your computer unless it is essential. If you must print, always print double sided.

Always use recycled paper for your printouts. If your local retailer doesn't stock it, ask them to.

If you are responsible for your church magazine, ensure that it is printed on recycled paper. If it is not, then ask why not.

Do not accept flyers, leaflets or free newspapers unless you really need them.

Share newspapers and magazines with friends and neighbours. Better to read online. This is now possible with most major titles.

Always re-use envelopes. Reserve the use of new ones for special occasions.

If you have to buy new envelopes make sure they are made from recycled paper.

Before finally comitting paper to the recycling bin, always check for blank areas. These can be used for notes instead of post-its.

Use washable fabric handkerchiefs instead of paper tissues.

Resist the urge to take paper napkins in cafes. Use fabric napkins at home.

Always buy 100% recycled toilet tissue. If your retailer doesn't stock it, ask them to. Do not be fobbed off with FSC rolls!

Avoid the use of paper kitchen towels. Use washable fabric cloths instead.

Sign up to the Mail Preference Service (http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/) to avoid junk mail.

Return junk mail to sender asking to be removed from their database (Often a free post envelope is enclosed. This will cost them money if you use it!).

Never tick the box on the form saying you would like to receive further information. Better to use their website if you are able; or make a telephone call.

MODULE 2: Waste

ACTION

Recycled paper is still viewed by many commercial printers as sub-standard but the fact remains that there are now many high quality papers on the market with a high recycled content. Most of the large publishing houses are now acknowledging this fact and many books are now available printed on recycled paper.

Traditionally the newspaper industry has used paper with some recycled content. Newsprint is a continous process fed by huge rolls of paper which are kept under tension as they pass through the machinery. Because of this there is a limit to the amount of recycled fibre this process will take and currently it is around 54%.

Kimberly Clarke, the world's largest toilet tissue manufacturers (Andrex and Kleenex) have always refused to use recycled fibre in their products. They are marketed on their supreme softness and they claim they cannot acheive this with recycled fibre. The technology now exists and there is no reason why they shouldn't. (WWF

Toilet Tissue Survey 2007)

Georgia Pacific, the world's largest paper manufacturer, and manufacturers of one of the few 100% recycled toilet tissues on the UK market (Nouvelle) scored the lowest possible marks for environmental concern in their manufacturing process in the WWF Toilet Tissue Survey in 2007. (http://www.wwf.org.uk/)

Most major supermarkets and chemist chainstores have recycled toilet tissue produced for them but not all branches stock it. Ask for it.

Similarly with High Street stationers. They all have stationery produced for them that has a high recycled content. Make sure your local branch stocks it by asking for it.

Independent stationers can obtain it through their wholesalers but may be committed to a minimum order. How about your team, or a group from your church making up a minimum order and sharing it between you?

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