- The part of trees used for making paper is the tree trunk. The outermost bark functions for protection, while the next inner layer is the cambium, which produces the bark and the inner wood structures. The wood consists of two parts: the sapwood, which carries water and nutrients to the different plant parts, and the heartwood, which provides strength and hardness to the trunk. These parts that form and make up a tree's wood are actually fibers stuck together. These fibers are the source of the material we know as paper.
- Managed timberlands are areas where trees are grown for the purpose of being manufactured into paper and other products for human use. A common misconception is that the use of paper will cause the planet to run out of trees; however, there are more trees planted each year than the number of trees cut down. If timberlands are run successfully, they can then be managed to plant trees and produce paper and wood products indefinitely.
- Paper recycling involves using old paper products and manufacturing them into new paper products. Recycling paper products saves 60 percent of energy costs compared with when paper is manufactured from new trees.
- Only paper that is clean and free from contaminants---such as plastic, metal and trash---can be easily recycled. Paper recycling involves several processes, such as sorting, collection, transportation from various sources and storage until the actual recycling process.
Re-pulping and screening make the paper into a mushy mixture that is then cleaned to remove contaminants like plastic, glue, and staples. De-inking, bleaching, and color stripping remove inks and dyes that are present and make the paper mixture whiter and brighter, while refining separates the paper into individual fibers. The actual papermaking process involves mechanically spreading the paper into sheets, then pressing and heating them to allow them to dry completely. Coating may then be done to give the paper a smooth, glossy finish, after which the paper is rolled and shipped to factories to be made into finished paper products. - About 13,000 separate pieces of paper are thrown away each year by the average American household, with each peron using about 680 pounds a year, which amounts to 85 million tons of paper. If recycled, each ton of paper can save around 17 trees, 4,000 kilowatts of energy, 380 gallons of oil and 7,000 gallons of water.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -