ABC of Paper Recycling for Kids: What's The Limit
You may by now be wondering what happens when paper made from recycled paper is finished with? Can it be recycled again? In other words, can paper be recycled indefinitely?
The simple answer to this last question is no. Although some types of paper can be recycled several times over, there is a limit. Plant fibers, including wood and cotton, are made up of cellulose. Each time they are pulped, the fibers become shorter and weaker. Once they have reached the very lowest grade, any further pulping would be useless. Anything made from them would tend to crumble and fall apart.
Fibers in the lowest grade are suitable for products that will not be recycled. One obvious example is toilet paper, which is disposed of through the sewage system. But there is another way to tackle the problem of deterioration in the case of white paper. This is to make sure that paper which is likely to be recycled always contains a proportion of "virgin" material. For example, some paper is made from half new fibers and half once recycled material. When this paper is itself recycled, it can be mixed with virgin fiber again, half and half. This time the paper produced will be made up of one quarter of once-recycled fibers, and one quarter of twice-recycled fibers; but one half will still be new fibers. And so on.
Another limit is caused by wastage. Even when paper is put into a recycling mill, not all of it finds its way through to the end of the process. A lot of the fibers are washed out along the way, as the paper is pulped, and de-inked. Altogether, it takes about one and a third tons of paper waste to make one ton of recycled paper.
Some paper cannot be recycled because of the use to which it is put. Toilet paper has already been mentioned. Paper tissues, disposable diapers, wallpaper, and paper contaminated with food waste are other examples of paper products that cannot be recycled.
Another constraint is caused by the way some paper is processed. Plastic film or metal lining is added to paper cartons for fruit juice; other products are made of paper coated with wet-strength resins, or adhesives, or wax. Unfortunately, these and other contaminants make pulping more difficult, and cause damage to papermaking equipment. They are widely used, and often without good reason. The result is that most of the paper treated with them can never be recycled.
Local Waste Management Experts who can provide you with professional consultation on paper recycling:
- Ottawa, ON Roll Off Bins & Dumpster Rentals is a local Ottawa, ON waste hauling and dumpster rentals company
- Fredericton Trash Bin Rentals - privately owned and operated roll off container rentals business
- Dartmouth and Halifax, NS Dumpster Rentals - Roll Off Dumpsters and Waste Removal company serving Halifax, NS and Dartmouth, NS.
- Published: 2012-09-17T11:33:31-07:00
- Author: Laura Schmidt, Dumpster Rentals Customer Supp
