Can Paper Recycling Make a Difference?

Many people wonder if paper recycling can really make a difference. The resounding answer is yes. Here are some surprising facts that you may want to work into a conversation the next time someone asks.

People Still Read Newspapers

There are over 33.4 million newspapers printed daily and over 37.4 million on Sundays. Additionally, there are 1.26 million newspapers that are printed once a week. The average newspaper has about 40 pages or a grand total of 9,562.4 trillion sheets. 9.180 billion ounces. Each sheet of newspaper weighs about 0.96 ounces. Therefore, on a weekly basis, newspapers require 286,860 tons of newspaper. It takes 12 trees to make one ton, so the newspaper industry requires 3,442,320 trees to be cut down weekly if all newspaper was made from new paper. About 30 percent of all newspaper is made from recycled newspaper currently. If the number of people who recycled their newspapers rose by just 10 percent about 25 million trees could be saved annually.

Paper Grocery Bags

It was not so long ago that almost all grocery bags were made from paper. The average 15-year-old tree can be cut down to make 700 paper grocery sacks. There are about 40,000 grocery stores in America. Assume for a moment that each one stayed open 18 hours a day, and each store used 350 bags per hour. Therefore, grocery stores used 252 million grocery bags daily. Therefore, 360,000 trees would need to be cut down daily. You can easily see why it is so important for people to use cloth bags and recycle any paper grocery bags that they currently own.

The Value of Trees

Each American uses products made from about seven trees annually. The current population in the United States is 327.2 million people. Therefore, it requires 2.3 billion trees to support our current lifestyle. The United States Department of Forestry at the University of California in Davis, California, says that each tree is worth $75 in saved air conditioning, $75 in erosion control, $75 in wildlife shelter and $50 in air pollution reduction. Currently, in the United States, only about 66 percent of all paper is recycled.

What Else is Saved

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, about 28 percent of each landfill is filled with paper that could have been recycled. Each ton of paper that is recycled saves enough energy to heat and cool the average U.S. home for six months and saves 7,000 gallons of water.

How Can You Help?

Get your company involved in paper recycling by contacting Orlando Recycling Inc. This recycling center will be glad to help you get started. You can arrange through this recycling center in Orlando to get the compactors that your company needs to begin the process of recycling paper. Then, get everyone involved with throwing paper into the compactor instead of into the trash can. Arrange with this recycling center in Orlando to pick up your bales regularly. The more people that you can get to join your company’s recycling team, the more trees, energy and water will be saved.