We have been calling the paper recycling mania "interactive propaganda'' because its primary purpose seems to be to involve everyone in hands-on enviro action rather than in saving resources. The article "Suddenly, Paper is on a Burn'' by D. J. Yang and T. Smart in
Paper prices have increased from $460 per ton to $550 per ton - a 20% increase. Yang and Smart report that the paper industry has spent $7.5 billion for equipment needed to recycle paper. This expenditure, which must be added to paper prices, is not the only cost.
In response to a letter from an
Access to Energy reader, Fletcher Challenge, one of Canada's largest forest products companies, replied: "You asked 'How much more costly is it to produce recycled papers over virgin stock? What are the economics?' " The quick answer is that, depending upon the percentage of recycled fibre used (which ranges up to 40%), it costs us 15% to 20% more to make recycled paper versus virgin paper. That translates to an added cost of roughly $75 to $100 per metric ton of paper produced........"In general, recycled fibre costs more than virgin fibre because producing it uses more energy. Part of that extra energy is consumed in collecting the old paper - think of all the trucks hauling bundles of newspapers from communities all over the region.......
"The requirement to produce recycled paper is driven more by legislation than consumer demand. Our biggest paper market, California, has a law requiring newspaper publishers to use so much recycled paper within a set timetable. If all our markets adopted similar laws, we would have real problems getting enough used paper to comply.'' This letter also discusses the cost of deinking equipment.
Access to Energy
is proudly printed on 100% unrecycled paper. In order to assure this, we recently purchased about a three year supply. Our paper company says that excessive costs of recycling and federal and state regulations requiring recycled paper are reducing the supply of unrecycled paper (since factories now maintain virgin paper production as a separate capability), so that it may eventually be unavailable.
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Vol. 22, No. 5
Newsletter: Access to Energy Newsletter Archive Volume: Issues Issue/No.: Vol. 22, No. 5 Date: January 01, 1995 03:10 PM Title: Information
Copyright © 2004 - Access to Energy Newsletter Archive
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