Choosing paper can be tricky. You’ve all heard plea to “Go paperless” or “Don’t print this, save a tree!” So when you’re in charge of ordering paper for your company, it wouldn’t be surprising if you felt a twinge of guilt.
The good news is, there are many misconceptions about paper. When it’s sustainably sourced and manufactured, using paper is actually beneficial to our environment. Not to mention the fact that Hammermill’s entire business model depends on keeping forests healthy and thriving.
Here are five things you should know about paper that will make you feel much better about using it.
1. Paper is one of the most sustainable products on the planet.
Trees are a renewable resource that can be harvested and regrown in a sustainable, ever-repeatable cycle. While harvesting trees is often associated with the reduction of forestland, the truth is that North American forests grow twice as much wood as is harvested every year.
2. Paper production has created a culture of responsible forest stewardship.
The demand for paper, packaging, and other forest products provides an economic incentive for private landowners to grow, harvest, and regenerate their forests for continuous, sustainable use. Without this incentive, more forestland would be sold for development and agriculture.
3. Paper is one of the most recycled materials in the world today.
The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) recently came out with their 2020 paper recycling stats, and the recovery rate for paper is as high as 65.7%. That’s compared to 28% and 9% for glass and plastic, respectively.
4. Paper mills use renewable energy, too.
Today’s North American paper mills use a combination of fuel sources, with a majority focus on repurposed biomass residuals (the byproduct of tree material processing). At Hammermill, this renewable biomass provides 72% of our mill energy.
And while water is a critical element of paper manufacturing, we reuse our mill water up to 10 times before treating it and returning it to the environment. A full 93% of our water goes back to the environment, with the remaining 7% evaporating.
5. Forests remove tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
A forest is one of nature’s most powerful systems for capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. That’s why it’s so critical that we harvest and regrow trees sustainably. Forests also purify water and create diverse plant and animal habitats.
So why is Hammermill your best option? From 2010 to 2019, we:
- Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 22% and air emissions by 49%
- Invested more than $700 million in energy efficiency improvements
- Invested more than $60 million in conservation efforts
- Recovered, processed, and reused more than 7 million tons of fiber annually
- Planted or enhanced 525,000 acres of forest ecosystems
And we have even bigger environmental goals for 2030. Put simply, the next time you need to order paper for your business, remember that Hammermill is paper made right.
