Christmas Unwrapped
Chris Rodinis
December 28th, 2012
Paper paper everywhere…especially under the Christmas tree! Where does it all go when the gifts have been unwrapped? Most people toss it. Some put into their curbside recycle container. From there it will be sorted and recycled by the waste management company that picks it up.
Before we get started: Save the bows! Save the ribbon…bows and ribbons can be reused year after year as any “green” Mom will tell you. Now back to that beautiful Christmas wrapping paper that has been torn to shreds.
Anyone who has had a Christmas tree knows about mountains of torn gift wrapping paper piled high in the center of the room….along with cardboard gift boxes.
Because of recent trends in manufacturing, much of that gift wrapping paper has been made from some recycled paper.
Now the obvious question is just exactly how many times can paper be recycled? The water on Earth is constantly being recycled over and over again for as long as the Earth’s atmosphere lasts. Not so with paper. Paper is usually recycled no more than five or six times during its molecular life.
Bring It to a Boil
The recipe for recycling paper starts by heating it to a boil and then pulverizing it into miniscule little pieces which then becomes a very useful pulp.
As the virgin paper is decimated there is a chance (about 20%) that it will be cut into such short lengths that if will not fill recipe requirements.
Turns out that the shorter strands are only good for inferior recycled paper such as used in newspapers like the LA Times.
According to scientists, theoretically paper could be recycled 100 times! However in reality this is not commercially viable. A more likely scenario, as stated earlier, is that paper averages a “five times” (5x) recycle lifespan.
Each time paper is recycled it loses some of its virgin qualities, in spite of this fact, it would still keep its “shape” after multiple recycles but then lose its “robustness.”
Paper Mache Sort Of
The drying and soaking of paper as a treatment will create in the paper an effect called “hornification.” This is best described as being similar dried tomato. You can tell by its structure that it is a tomato, however, inside there is a caving in and a loss of strength.
As a way to negate hornification, processors add some virgin paper to the mix to give it the needed strength, durability and eye appeal.
Eco-friendly paper is gray for a reason. Each recycling diminishes the brightness. On the other hand eco-friendly paper is more opaque which is easier on the eyes when reading.
Each recycling of paper can be viewed as part of an ordered structure that last until the bitter end.
Take recycling fine stationery as an example, if the batch has enough of the strong qualities it readily processes into a legal pad.
Of course, more often than not, this paper may become toilet paper or a juice carton!
And that new pair of shoes in that branded shoe box with a logo? That shoebox was probably once a standard cardboard box that UPS may have delivered.
What’s Propping Paper Up?
What would be interesting but impossible is tracking cardboard boxes into their next incantation. If you could, you would see that 4 times out of 10, that box ends up overseas to places like China where demand for paper is greater than the supply.
Statistically, and as a matter of fact, the most U.S. exported product to China is….you guessed it…. is waste for recycling. That includes paper, electronics and automobiles.
The big overseas demand for “waste” paper is what keeps the paper recycling industry alive. As the price per ton of recyclable paper dips below $5, the only thing stabilizing it and making it profitable is strong demand from China, India and other emerging economies.
Also, government mandates requiring that manufactured paper contain at least a certain amount of recycled paper is another factor that keeps the paper recycling industry stronger.
For more information on recycling other office products such as electronics:
www.EwasteWiz.com