Sustainability
Paper, and its use in print, is not harmful to the environment!
Paper is made from trees, a natural and renewable resource that absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide - the absorbed carbon element of which, is retained in timber and timber derived products ... including paper!
Paper is not the primary cause of deforestation.
In fact you'll find that paper accounts for less than 14% of the world's harvested timber.
Usually the top ⅓ or top ¼ of a harvested tree is used in paper manufacture, the overwhelming volume is used for construction and furniture manufacture.
Most of the virgin fibre paper products used are made from certified sustainably managed forests, such as FSC and PEFC. Responsible timber and paper production ensures healthy and growing forestry.
Between 2005 and 2020, European forests grew by 58,390 square kilometres – that's an area bigger than Switzerland and amounts to over 1,500 football pitches every day!
FAO 2005-2020
Total area of forestry: FSC certified
228 million ha
FSC, 2021
Total area of forestry: PEFC certified
330 million ha
PEFC, 2021
The print and paper industry is one of the lowest industrial greenhouse gas emitters in Europe, accounting for just 0.8% of emissions.
European Environment Agency, Annual European Union Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990-2018, 2020
The direct CO2 emissions of the European pulp and paper industry reduced by 25% between 2005 and 2017.
CEPI, 2017
Recycled Paper Facts in Numbers
Paper fibre can be recycled between...
6 to 8
times
9.9
million tonnes
of paper and board was consumed in the UK in 2020
The UK recycling rate for paper and board is
79%
in 2020
56%
of pulp and paper
...manufactured in the EU was made from recycled fibre. (CEPI 2020)
Check out paper facts with these environmental infographics.