As we all get asked to do our part and recycle our waste products, we naturally assume that we are contributing to reduced use of natural resources , lower energy consumption and a cleaner environment. Right? Well, a new study by London’s UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources and Yale University published in Nature Sustainability found that saving energy and improving the environment will only happen if the recycling is done using renewable energy powered sources.
Paper accounted for 1.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2012 with about a third of these emissions coming from the disposal of paper in landfills. Researchers believe that in coming years, use of paper will likely rise due to the move away from plastics and the subsequent increased demand for paper packaging.
The study found that the there is no energy reduction with paper recycling currently due to recycling reliance on fossil fuels and electricity from coal-powered grids for its energy source. And while making new paper from trees requires more energy than paper recycling, the energy for this process is generated from low-carbon by-products (called black liquor) of the wood pulping process.
Researchers in the study modeled various scenarios for increased recycling of wastepaper by 2050 and the impact it would have on greenhouse emissions. Their findings: if all wastepaper was recycled, emissions would increase by 10% primarily due to the reliance on fossil fuels for recycling vs making new paper. However, Researchers also found that emissions would be reduced by 96% if paper production and disposal were carried out using renewable energy sources (rather than fossil fuels) AND landfill disposal processes were radically overhauled to capture escaping methane gas and re-using it as an energy source.
Conclusions: We need paper recycling to meet the global emissions goals set by the Paris Agreement. However, what are now learning is that we have to be smarter about paper recycling in order to truly save our natural resources AND reduce emissions. We can do that if we build an infrastructure of renewable energy sources around the recycling process and overhaul our landfill disposal processes…otherwise, paper recycling becomes more of a ‘paper weight’ than a community contribution to saving the planet.
Paper Recycling: Are we making a difference?