There’s plenty of talk around this subject but what’s the actual evidence about how the use of paper affects the environment?
Less paper means less trees. There’s an assumption that because paper is made from trees then it must be bad for the environment. The facts are that paper is a very sustainable industry and the bulk of the wood it uses is from plantations and recycling. The more paper we use, the more trees are planted.
There has been a significant shift in recent years in the way Australian plantations operate towards more sustainable and environmentally responsible methods. It’s worth catching up on what’s happening so you can make an informed decision about using paper.
Things are not as they were last century. Opal Australian Paper is Australia’s major paper producer. They source their timber from HPV Plantations in Victoria. 70% of HVP’s land is sustainably-managed plantations. They don’t harvest native forest. The remaining 30% of its land is for plantation protection, conservation and other community values.
HVP’s commitments to the Forest Stewardship Council’s® (FSC®, FSC-C014387) certification standards and the Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) certification standards on their forest estate are examples of this major move in the paper industry towards responsible and accountable forestry practices. These commitments are subject to regular, independent, third-party audits.
One of OAP’s divisions is Reflex, the biggest-selling copier paper in Australia. All of Opal Australian Paper’s wood supplies come from plantations in Victoria. Reflex, along with all of their products, are 100% Australian made at the Maryvale Mill in Victoria that contributes $911m to Australia’s GDP*, supports over 5,700 jobs, and every ream of Reflex you buy adds $1.88 to Government revenues (you can check these stats in the Economic & Government Revenue Impacts: Australian Paper, Western Research Institute, January 2017, pp. 3 and 7).
The Maryvale Mill also takes 80,000 tonnes of wastepaper out of Australia’s landfill and recycles it into paper that’s certified carbon neutral through the Australian Government's National Carbon Offset Scheme (NCOS.). Planet Ark have partnered with Reflex to promote the use of recycled paper, which is currently at much lower levels in Australia than it ought to be.
Are we recycling enough paper? We’re good at recycling it, we just don’t use enough. Our 2019-2020 rate of 68% recycling of paper and cardboard is up 5% on the previous two years (Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation Collective Impact Report, page 5) and puts us towards the top globally.
Paper is one of the most sustainable and recycled products on the planet. As a comparison to paper recycling, ewaste contains toxic elements, it’s not biodegradable and it remains in the environment in ways that transfer to living things. You can put paper in your own garden if you want to and it will decompose. That’s not something many people would be willing to do with an old computer. Even paper that isn’t recycled is biodegradable so it won’t be sitting in landfills for centuries the way ewaste will.
Are we using enough recycled paper? No, we’re not. Not yet, anyway. APCO’s report says “Consumption of paper and paperboard has remained relatively stable but is expected to grow strongly over the next four years.” We recommend using recycled paper for everyday use. It’s also great for your marketing products because it communicates that you care about your impact on the environment.
Rethink your use of paper as a sustainable product. Many of the reasons to “go paperless” are about reducing costs not saving the environment, but that’s not the reason being presented. So many businesses opting for shaving a bit off their marketing budget in favour of contributing to the massive pool of digital marketing leaves print products wide open for the smart move to use it and stand out as a business with integrity and creativity.
If you want more details on the sustainability of paper and the facts on this industry, you can get a lot of information in a short time in Two Side’s Graphic Paper Myths. This non-profit organisation is doing a great job of educating consumers, printers and paper mills about best practices for environmentally safe paper production and use.
