Even in our technology-driven nation, people consume obscene amounts of paper. The EPA calculates that Americans consume 70 million tons of paper annually in the United States alone. However, around 70% of paper products are recycled in our nation. Conserving landfill space, water, and energy are just some benefits of recycling paper. In addition, recycling paper can help to lower greenhouse gases and produce a cost-saving and sustainable fiber for making new paper products. Experts offer these advantages of paper and cardboard recycling in New Jersey:
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, paper products are to blame for almost thirty percent of the solid trash located in landfills. In addition, it takes up nearly 3.3 cubic yards of space in a landfill to contain one ton of paper. By recycling any of your cardboard and paper products, you can help save space in landfills for other trash you cannot recycle. Doing so will also help decrease the need for building more landfills. Unfortunately, building new landfills in communities often brings resistance from the neighborhoods they are suggested in.
Less water and energy are used to recycle paper than to create it from plants and other trees. Incredibly, one ton of paper being recycled saves energy equal to the energy needed to power an average American home for six months of the year. It also can save the use of about 7,000 gallons of water. In addition, making new paper from recycled paper helps save water and energy because the number of energy-intensive processes and steps that utilize water is significantly reduced.
Carbon dioxide and methane are decreased in the atmosphere through the recycling procedure. Methane gas is released into the air when paper breaks down naturally in a landfill. Global climate change is impacted by methane and carbon dioxide released into the air. Cutting down trees to make paper lets more carbon dioxide to be released into the air because living trees absorb carbon dioxide. Additionally, carbon dioxide is released into the air when the wood is processed to create paper. According to the EPA, recycling paper drastically reduces the release of greenhouse gases into the air.
You can conserve forests and trees through the process of recycling paper. Seventeen trees are left standing for each ton of recycled paper. Paper recycling is an environmentally friendly process for paper manufacturers that saves energy and costs. It is essential to remember that you cannot recycle paper forever. It can only be recycled around seven times before the fibers get too short to be recycled again. Short fiber materials are burned for energy, composted, or utilized as landfilling material.
