Printing and the environment
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As with many other industrial activities printing has an effect on the environment. In recent years printing has moved to more environmentally benign inks, recycled papers and energy conservation.
[edit] Statistics
Printing bears a heavy environmental cost, which is related to both consumption of paper and the environmental footprint of print consumables. Below are some facts about the effects of printing on the environment:
- Each ton of office paper, during its complete life cycle, emits the equivalent of 6.3 tons of CO2 in GHGs.
- In 2004 the United States used 8 million tons of office paper, that’s the equivalent of 178 million trees!
- Production of 1 ton of copy paper uses 11,134 kWh (same amount of energy used by an avg household in 10 months.
- Production of 1 ton of copy paper produces 2,278 lb of solid waste.
- Tree "harvesting" for the pulp industry accounts for over 42% of logged trees.
- It takes 12-24 trees to manufacture one ton of paper, resulting in an average of 18 trees cut down for every 10 employees per year.
- An Average employee prints 6 wasteful pages per day, that's 1,410 wasted pages per year for a total of $84.60.
- The U.S. pulp and paper industry is the second largest consumer of energy and uses more water to produce a ton of product than any other industry.
- The global demand for paper is expected to grow by 2.1% per year until 2020.
- Every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space.
- Paper recycling also saves up to 70% of the energy needed to create paper from new timber.
[edit] Issues
Deforestation occurs around the globe. It is the act of essentially the removal of or burning of trees in a forest. Deforestation can occur for a number of various reasons, including the production of paper, logging industry, as well as urbanization and overpopulation. Additionally, the problems with deforestation lead to those that are environmentally harmful. However, according to the Manila Bulletin [1], fewer trees have been cut down in deforestation in 2009 than in 2008, by about 45% in Brazil’s Amazon jungle. While this issue remains a subject that seems to be undergoing further scrutiny and reduction, it has remained an issue in other areas of the world. In the eastern Nangarah province, as reported by the Pajhwok Afghan News [2], deforestation is an issue that the government is recently seeing the need to create a solution for, because many bakeries and baths use power generators instead of using natural gas. A plan to increase the number of natural gas users to promote greater air quality is underway and is being made possible by donations to make the conversion affordable. See Deforestation for further elaboration on Deforestation.
Paper Pollution is another consideration with respect toward Printing and the Environment. The production and recycling of paper as an industry is also a key contributor to the printing process and the environment, as paper is a common medium for information and literature to be printed on. The manufacturing of paper involves processes that require the use of chlorine bleach and sulfur. This process results in the output of such chemicals into the bodies of water surrounding paper mills. The Mountaineer [3] reports that in Canton, TN, pollution has become an ongoing issue with residents. There has been a class action suit filed that alleges the mill there has become a private temporary nuisance that has substantially interfered with the citizen’s rights to use and enjoy their property. The claim states that the river often emits an odor and is brown and at times, filled with foam. See Paper pollution for further elaboration on Paper pollution.
[edit] Mitigation
Recycling paper is a process that involves using waste paper and converting it back into paper that can be re-used or into another form of paper. Waste paper originates from a number of sources that may include waste from paper mills, or paper that is discarded by consumers. Weekend Australian [4] reports that there are cost benefits in good years to recycling. The special report also states that the recovered materials used to make new paper takes less water and less energy than cutting down and processing a tree. In addition to a reduction in the overall loss of trees as a result of processing virgin trees, energy consumption is said to have decreased, although there is some debate over that actual fact since recycling began. Air quality is also a factor taken into consideration throughout the paper recycling process. An article in the Washington Times [5] presents the notion that the recycling process overall increases air pollution in that curbside recycling requires a larger fleet of trucks to pick up the same amount of waste, this increases iron ore and coal mining, as well as steel and rubber production and fuel production, leading to more air pollution. See Paper recycling for further elaboration on Paper recycling.
[edit] Industry organisations
- Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes
- Forest Stewardship Council
- Sustainable Forestry Initiative
