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Paper Recycling Levels
The level of recycling waste paper, sometimes called recovered
paper, relies on several factors. Pulp that has just
been made from trees contains virgin fibers, also
known as primary fibers. Pulp made from waste paper
contains recycled or secondary fibers. Several
factors affect the aquisition of recovered fiber(i.e.
recycling):
- Rate of Collection -- Widely used but inaccurate
measurement. This figure approximates apparent national
consumption of waste paper, but sometimes does not
account for information such as net exports, exports
that undergo changes(e.g.laminates, wrapping paper),
and the amount of unrecoverable paper grades produced(e.g.
tissue paper, pizza boxes, napkins).
- National Waste Paper Consumption -- This
is the amount of recycled paper recovered nationally
plus the number of imports minus the amount of waste
apaper that is exported.
(Click above image for larger version)
- Utilization Rate -- This figure reflects
the amount of utilization out of the amount of recycled
paper that is produced in a country.
All of these factors do not account for any impurities(e.g.
non-fiber materials, water content, contraries) that are
present in waste paper. The following table is given as
a comparison of recovery and utilization rates(1999 figures)
for various countries:
|
Country
|
Recovery
Rate(%)
|
Utilization
Rate(%)
|
| Netherlands |
76
|
74
|
| Germany |
73
|
61
|
| South Korea |
70
|
79
|
| Sweden |
60
|
18
|
| Japan |
56
|
55
|
| Austrailia |
51
|
78
|
| Hong Kong(1997) |
46
|
100
|
| USA |
44
|
38
|
| Canada |
43
|
25
|
| UK |
41
|
72
|
| Brazil |
38
|
35
|
| China |
32
|
46
|
| New Zealand |
16
|
2
|
{Pulp & Paper International, Annual Review, July 2000}
When one takes into account specific grades of waste paper,
recovery rates can be found to be signifigantly higher,
especially areas of high population density where collection
of recycled paper is less difficult. As an example, it
is predicted that ONP(old newspaper) recovery rates in
the United States will be 75% by 2005{Moore, B. Recovered
paper supply impacts on recycle newsprint production.
Preprints of 5th research Fourm on Recycling, Ottawa,
Sept 1999, pg. 75}.
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