Papermaking often involves two-stages. Pulp and paper may be made in one integrated mill (common in imported papers) but pulp can also be made separately, then turned into finished paper at a different mill. Be sure to consider both stages; both have environmental impacts.
Answers will give you a good idea of the degree to which the manufacturer is resolving the major issues related to paper production.
Forestry is a very complex issue, with no universal agreement on standards. It is generally accepted that it is preferable to move towards broad sustainability, not simply maintaining or increasing the area on which trees are growing. Issues include ‘bio-diversity’ ( the maintenance of a wide variety of species of flora and of natural habitats for native fauna), soil erosion, and water contamination. Protecting the rights of indigenous people is an important concern in some locations
Wiping out species of flora and fauna means we may be eliminating valuable future resources. The medical and drugs industries, in particular, benefit from this range of natural sources of raw materials. Also, forests are frequently called the "lungs of the planet"; they are valuable recreational areas. Responsible owners set aside significant areas for the conservation of natural indigenous forests. Many paper pulps come from forests where positive improvements have been made in sustainable forestry practice.
If the answer to the first question is ‘Yes’, the paper contains virgin fibre; these questions indicate how your choice will affect the world’s forests.
Solid waste can be recycled,composted, incinerated, or go to landfill. Incineration can be expensive and polluting, and landfill sites are in short supply.
Most UK waste goes to landfill. This is why the Government is committed to increasing recycling. As landfills are being filled, legislation and public protest are making it more difficult to find new locations for sites. Decaying matter in landfill produces the greenhouse gas methane. Also liquid matter, or leachate, which collects in the sites can leak and contaminate ground water. Landfill sites cause local inconvenience. They are frequently an eyesore, and cause traffic pollution. Recycling minimises landfill and improves sustainability.
Answers on recycled content will indicate how the paper you are looking at will address this problem.
Water pollution occurs when organic or inorganic substances enter the water supply and contaminate it. Major pollutants include oxygen-demanding substances, which deplete the oxygen supply. These reduce a river or lake’s ability to sustain aquatic life. Also toxic substances (such as pesticides), minerals, radioactive substances, infectious agents, sediments and heat all negatively affect receiving waters. Legislation usually requires that mills return water to rivers etc. at set levels of purity, temperature and oxygen content.
Traditional chlorine gas bleaching, as well as being hazardous, can result in wastewaters containing chlorine compounds. These could get into the food chain, causing a health-risk. An ECF (elemental chlorine free) process greatly reduces the amount of chlorinated organic material in the wastewater. A TCF (totally chlorine free) system does not use any chlorine products at all. Avoid pulp that is not ECF or TCF.
The answers to the questions on bleaching will help you assess impacts on water quality. The Nordic Swan scheme checks waste-water to ensure that both the by-products of chlorine bleaching and oxygen depleting chemicals are below set levels. The ISO 140001 and EMAS environmental management systems require that the site measure their impacts and commit to continually reduce them. Use the answers about bleaching and environmental management systems to compare manufacturers. Other details on emissions to water are covered by local legislation.
The ozone layer lies 10 - 30 kilometres above the earth’s surface. It protects life from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. A number of gases released by man are damaging this layer but the paper industry is not a contributor to this problem. Pulps that use ozone bleaching do not deplete the ozone layer.
Low level ozone and photochemical smog are both hazardous to health and are caused by the burning of fossil fuels releasing nitrous oxides.
Acid rain
The main pollutant is sulphur dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. The gases released become acid rain, damaging forests and other plant life. They also can make lakes acidic, killing fish stocks. Acid rain corrodes buildings and causes loss of plant nutrients in soils.
Any industrial process which uses fossil fuels (e.g. coal, gas, oil) as a power source, may contribute to these problems unless appropriate investment has been made to clean the flue-gases.
Fossil fuels are not sustainable, but many papers are made without using of fossil fuels. Pulps are produced using sustainable energy made from forest wastes (e.g. bark, and residues from the pulp-making process itself), rather than from non-sustainable fossil fuels.
The energy usage section will help you see how much impact a paper is having. So will positive answers relating to environmental management systems and product labels. All these schemes aim to reduce levels of harmful gases emitted. Fossil fuel energy sources are less positive from the perspective of sustainability.
Climate Change
Global warming is starting to cause many problems in the world. Ice caps are disappearing, and sea levels starting to rise. Extreme weather conditions such as floods, droughts and storms are causing loss of life and extreme hardship. Global warming is related to energy use.
Human activity is increasing the concentrations of ‘greenhouse’ gases in the atmosphere. These gases - which include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen dioxide - prevent the release of heat from the earth. The result is global warming. CO2 is one of the key greenhouse gases.
All industrial activity tends to produce some CO2, mainly as a result of energy consumption. The paper industry uses a lot of energy, although it has significantly reduced its consumption of energy per tonne produced over recent years. CO2 emissions have reduced even more as new technology in power plants (CHP - Combined Heat and Power) has made them more efficient and cleaner.
More recently the impact of distribution transport on the levels of CO2 has been raised. As demand for multiple ‘Just In Time’ deliveries becomes the norm, so pollution from exhausts increases. Do you demand distribution service levels you don’t really need? Think about it.
