Valinda Mar 1, 2019 4 min read
Pros and Cons of Paper Products
Updated: Oct 5, 2022
When you start your zero waste journey, paper is often the first sustainable choice. Paper products
are an easy and widely available alternative to plastic products. However, there are also lots of
downsides to paper products. These cons will be discussed below. First I would like to mention some
of the benefits of paper products.
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Disadvantages of paper. What are…
Pros of Paper
Decomposing
The biggest advantage of paper is that it can be decomposed more easily compared to plastic
products. Paper is made from fibers that are primarily comprised of cellulose, hemicellulose, and
lignin, which are all plant sources. This means that paper products (if they are not contaminated with
glue, stickers, or other plastic parts) will naturally decompose in a few weeks.
Recycling
Paper products can also be recycled. Several paper products can be recycled like newspapers,
magazines, catalogs, junk mail, printer paper, envelopes, gift wrapping paper, cardboard, and even
paper egg cartons.
Even though recycling still requires energy and water, this is considerably less compared to the
production of virgin paper. Producing paper from recycled materials uses about 50% less water
compared to virgin paper and about 1/3 less energy is used. Also, the release of greenhouse gasses
during the production of recycled paper is much less.
The biggest advantage of recycling paper is that there is no need to cut down new trees. These trees
will continue to absorb carbon dioxide for us and will provide us with much-needed oxygen.
Source: environmentalpaper.org
So, yes recycling costs energy but if you have to option of dumping your paper trash in
landfills/incinerators or recycling it, recycling is definitely the more sustainable option.
With recycling, you prevent hazardous gases from entering our atmosphere which could happen
when the paper is burned in a landfill.
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Employment
The paper (pulp) industry (and the paper recycling industry) creates lots of jobs for men and women
around the world. In the EU alone almost 200.000 people work in the industry. Even though this
number is slowly decreasing due to lots of automatizations, the demand for paper products remains
high and lots of employment options will remain.
This gives people financial security which is great for the economy worldwide.
Cons of Paper
Increase in waste
With the improvements in the technology of more efficiently making paper and paper products,
disposable paper becomes much more affordable for the average consumer. Especially now we know
that plastic hardly decomposes and is made from fossil fuels while the paper is made from a
renewable source and is biodegradable. This results in a drastic increase in the consumption of paper
products and in the end, paper pollution. It is estimated that 25% of the waste in the US is paper.
Unfortunately, a lot of paper products end up in landfills that could have been recycled. Often this is
due to either unwillingness of the consumer as it is too much effort for them or there are just no
recycling facilities nearby. If consumers have to go too much out of their way to ensure their paper
waste is recycled, they are often unwilling and if they have to drive that distance by car, it will also
undo the energy benefits of recycling. So if we would make these recycling centers more accessible,
people are more willing to participate.
Deforestation
This increase in paper demand comes with an increase in demand for trees which causes
endangerment of natural habitats of certain animals. At this moment, around 4.1 million hectares of
forest are destroyed each year because of our increased demand for paper products.
This is roughly 80.000 to 160.000 trees each day around the world with a big percentage being used
in the paper industry.
So, the paper industry is a big contributor to deforestation and is partly to blame for the
endangerment of some species that live in those forests.
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Water demand
Paper production requires lots of water. A US Letter/A4 size paper requires 2,6 gallon/10 liters of
water for the production of one sheet. During the production of paper over 40 different chemicals are
used.
During the production of paper and pulp products, manufacturers discharge water polluted with
these chemicals. These end up in our groundwater where they contribute to soil and water pollution.
This will in the end affect all life in the soil and water and even affect our health when this water is
again used to make our drinking water.
Fossil fuels
The paper industry is the 4th largest consumer of fossil fuel in the world. To produce 1 ton of paper
approximately 253 gallons /950 liters of petroleum is required. The production of paper produces
70% more air pollution and 50 times more water pollution than plastic bag production. It takes more
than 4 times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag compared to a plastic bag.
I think I am not alone when I say that the downsides of the production of paper shocked me. The
amount of water and petroleum required for paper production surprised me. Also, the chemicals
involved in the production and recycling of paper are just horrible.
So, what can you do to minimize paper pollution?
Only use paper when you really need it.
Keep your documents digital when possible.
When you need paper, use only recycled paper that was environmentally friendly
manufactured.
Make the people around you aware to be more conscious about recycling.
It will be a challenge but we make the world a little better one small step at a time.
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