Friday, November 6, 2015

Good morning,

While some materials like aluminum and glass can be recycled indefinitely, other materials have a very limited life, like paper.

It is true. Paper can only be recycled 4-5 times, as the fibers get shorter and weaker each time. Some virgin pulp must be introduced into the process to maintain the strength and quality of the fiber, so no matter how much we recycle we will never completely eradicate the need for virgin fiber. However, there are other benefits.

Please scroll down for more.

Thanks for reading,

Your Living Green editor

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* Producing recycled paper involves between 28 - 70 percent less energy consumption than virgin paper and uses less water. This is because most of the energy used in paper-making is the pulping needed to turn wood into paper.

* Recycled paper produces fewer polluting emissions to air (95 percent of air pollution) and water. Recycled paper is not usually re-bleached and where it is, oxygen rather than chlorine is frequently used. This reduces the amount of dioxins which are released into the environment as a by-product of the chlorine bleaching processes.