NRC President Discusses Paper Impact at Annual Awards
The National Recycling Coalition held its annual “Recycling Works” award ceremony earlier this month to recognize sustainability efforts, and NRC President David Refkin took the opportunity to discuss the paper industry with a representative from the Sustainable Forest Initiative.
The entire interview is available below, but here are a few tidbits:
- Refkin says the carbon footprint of paper in a typical office is as significant as that of employee travel when the entire supply chain is considered
- Despite a current downturn in recycling prices, he anticipates supply being an important issue in regards to where future paper will be sourced
- Publishers are evaluating the lifecycle of the paper they use, to the point of evaluating the carbon footprint of the forests it comes from
He also touched on the issue of certified forest paper versus recycled content paper. The SFI has created a forest certification process that aims to produce virgin paper using “environmental, social and economic forest values.”
Manufacturers are also increasingly producing paper from recycled content, including this year’s Recycle Works honoree Staples. The percentage of recycled content for paper is typically featured on the package.
In the case of publishers, the source of paper is just a start. Most newspapers utilize soy-ink during printing, as conventional ink is petroleum-based. Newsprint is also of the most valuable forms of paper you can recycle.
