RESI DENTI AL
AN D
COMMERCI AL
PAPE R
Ryan Skaria, Islam El Manyaka-Fiky, Benjamin Ogonek, Nijat Asadli
November 2013
WAS TE
Agenda
Overview of the problem
How our paper is produced
Quantifying our paper waste
Potential solutions
1
Overview of the issue
This presentation will look at our everyday consumption of paper at the residential and
commercial levels
To do this, we must first see how the US Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”)
defines and characterizes paper waste
Paper is a non-hazardous waste, and thus falls under the definition of Municipal Solid
Waste (“MSW”)
Essentially, this is what we refer to as trash or garbage; everyday items we use and
throw away:
– Product packaging
– Bottles
– Food scraps
– Newspapers
– Appliances
– Paper
This type of standard waste generally comes from our homes, businesses, schools,
hospitals etc.
2
Over the past decade total MSW waste levels have levelled
off, while per capita waste have shown a downward trend
MSW Generation Rates
300
10
9
243.5
250
253.0
250.4
8
Total MSW Generation (mm tons)
208.3
7
200
6
166.3
151.6
150
5
121.1
127.8
4.6
104.4
100
88.1
3.7
2.7
3.0
3.3
4.5
4.7
4.7
4.4
4
3.8
3
3.3
2
50
1
0
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
Source: EPA MSW Report 2011
3
1990
1995
2000
2005
0
2011
Per Capita Generation (lbs/person/day)
217.3
How much paper do we consume?
Paper Waste in Perspective
 Paper makes up 28% of what Americans throw away, more than any other material on an everyday basis
 This amounts to 70.1 million tons per year
 Or 1.2 pounds per day, 449.7 pounds per year
– An additional note: A year’s worth of New York Times newspaper weighs 520 pounds alone
– This equates to the weight of two bull sharks, or two wild boars
 A standard letter-sized paper is 1/100 lb, meaning the average American consumes 50,000 sheets of paper per
year!
 However, paper recycling has been going on since mid 19th century Europe saw an increased demand for books,
and today represents an organized and mature industry
 We can see this below, where ~50% of all recycled garbage is paper
Total MSW Generation Breakdown, 2011
28%
Total MSW Recovery, 2011
Paper and
paperboard
Paper and
paperboard
Food waste
Food waste
Yard trimmings
Yard trimmings
52.8%
Plastics
Plastics
Metals
Metals
Rubber, leather and
textiles
Wood
Source: EPA MSW Report 2011
4
How recycling helps – the numbers
Overview
Job creation
 On the residential side, the primary products we consume are
magazines, newspapers, printing paper, and textbooks or
books
30 jobs to collect paper
 The commercial side is much more intensive in consumption
Every 15,000 tons of recycled
newsprint creates…
 The American financial industry alone produces 730
pounds of paper per employee a year
40 jobs to process the paper
 1 ton of recycled paper saves around 17 trees
 This is equivalent to 2,200 pounds of paper, or 3-4 years
worth of consumption
 That means we each cut down almost 5 trees per year!
75 jobs to manufacture newsprint
Average paper usage
… Enough to create a 12 foot high wall of
paper across the country
The average American uses around 465 trees to
create a lifetime of paper…
Source: EPA Municipal Solid Waste Report 2011, iD2 Communications Report 2010
5
California
New York
Agenda
Overview of the problem
How our paper is produced
Quantifying our paper waste
Potential solutions
6
Where our paper comes from, and how it pollutes
What goes into making a virgin ton of paper?
Water
(24,000
gallons)
A Typical Pulp And Paper Mill
Wood (3,88
lbs.)
Lime, Salt
Cake,
Soda Ash
(~600 lbs.)
Upstream Initiatives To Reduce Pollution
Bleaching
 This is the process which turns raw paper into the
standard white color we are used to seeing
 A move to creating totally chlorine free (“TFC”) paper
This produces:
84 pounds of air pollutants
36 pounds of water pollutants
176 pounds of solid waste
has helped reduce water pollutants
Mechanical Pulp
 This is the type of pulp used to produce newspapers
 The process of creating mechanical pulp does not
bleach the end product, creating significantly less toxic
chemicals
7
Agenda
Overview of the problem
How our paper is produced
Quantifying our paper waste
Potential solutions
8
Quantifying our own impact
 To quantify our own impact, we created a measured average estimate using our four group members as a sample of the average student
 We then measured our consumption over a one month estimated period
Purpose of Usage
Number of Sheets
Used
Number of Times
Per Month
Total Sheets Used
Midterm/Quiz Revision
15
5
75
Research Reports for Projects
280
0.25
70
Textbooks
2000
0.25
500
Delivery Packaging
60
3
180
Magazines
30
5
150
Newspapers
26
30
780
Junk mail
50
1
50
Total
1,805
Commentary
 A 500 sheet package of paper weighs around 5 pounds
 So 1,805 sheets x 12 = 21,660 sheets of paper per year, divided by 500 = 43.3 packages of paper per year, or 216.6 pounds per year
 This is significantly below the average US per capita consumption of 500 pounds per year
 We attribute this discrepancy to the heavy weight that commercial business consumption likely has on total consumption
Note: Delivery packaging uses cardboard, which is generally estimated to equal 10 sheets of waste paper equivalent, so the sides of each package were multiplied by a
factor of four. i.e.. 6 sides to a package, multiplied by 10 equals 60 sheets of waste paper equivalent
Quantifying our own impact (cont’d)
 The next step was to figure out how our consumption was personally impacting the environment
 To do this, we figured out our pounds used per annum and applied the numbers to an advanced waste calculator on
www.cenvironmentalpaper.org
3%4% 4% 8%
10%
28%
43%
Junk Mail
Midterm/Quiz Revision Materials
Research Reports
Magazines
Delivery Packaging
Textbooks
0%
20%
40%
60%
Purpose of Usage
Pounds Used Paper Grade
(p.a.)
Junk Mail
6.5
Midterm/Quiz Revision
80%
100%
Newspapers
Greenhouse
Gases
(lbs. CO2 equiv.)
Water
Consumption
(gallons)
Sold Waste
(pounds)
Coated
groundwood
19
64
7
8.7
Uncoated
freesheet
24
99
8
Research Reports for Projects
8.7
Uncoated
freesheet
24
99
8
Magazines
17.3
Coated
groundwood
51
169
19
Delivery Packaging
21.6
Paperboard
66
218
20
Textbooks
60.6
Coated freesheet
172
617
67
Newspapers
93.1
Uncoated
groundwood
293
836
88
Total
216.6
649
2,102
217
Note: Pounds used calculated by multiplying our percentage usage by our total usage
Overview: our consumption in relative terms
 To put our consumption in relative terms, in one year we consume…
A wild boar’s worth of paper, which
amounts to…
22 three-month old babies worth of solid
waste
Six and a half sea turtles of
greenhouse gases (lbs CO2 equiv.)
And 33,632 cups of water
Agenda
Overview of the problem
How our paper is produced
Quantifying our paper waste
Potential solutions
12
How can we reduce our consumption?
Initiatives to reduce our personal usage
Going Online – Tablets
 An idea that immediately sprung to mind for us were the advent of the tablet and smartphone industries
 Reading on computer screens is difficult for some people, however Amazon’s Kindle uses an E Ink electronic
paper display, making the reading experience much more akin to reading a book
 The Kindle, starting at US$69, has the potential to create a huge reduction in our paper usage
Mobile Subscriptions
 Registering for online subscriptions and opting out of physical newspaper deliveries
 Generally, the development of newspaper apps has created a more fluid and comfortable reading experience
 In terms of cost, mobile subscriptions are generally cheaper
 NYTimes Print: US$8.75/month
 NYTimes Online: US$3.75/month
Resale of Textbooks
 Something we mostly do already due to the high initial cost
Recycling Programs
 Several recycling programs exist wherein you can personally recycle mail
 The USPS has developed a program wherein “mixed paper” (ie. Mail) can be deposited at Post Office locations for
recycling
Note: Delivery packaging uses cardboard, which is generally estimated to equal 10 sheets of waste paper equivalent, so the sides of each package were multiplied by a
factor of four. i.e.. 6 sides to a package, multiplied by 10 equals 60 sheets of waste paper equivalent
How can we reduce our consumption? (cont’d)
Case Study: Junk Mail
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
 Over 100 billion pieces of junk mail are produced each
year
 Around 30% of all mail delivered globally
 Each US household received 848 pieces of junk mail
per year, which required 6.5 million tons of paper to
produce
 This takes more than 100 million trees to produce
 Or the equivalent of clear-cutting the entire Rocky
Mountain National Park every four months!
6.5 million tons of paper used to create junk mail…
Incentives to Reduce Junk Mail
Taxes
 The government could impose a tax on outgoing mail
to unregistered recipients, thus making it more
expensive for businesses to send out junk mail
Email
 Initiatives to encourage advertisers to switch to email
could also reduce the impact of physical junk mail
…Equal to lbs CO2 emissions equivalent to 3.7 million cars
per year
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