Four reasons to start (or keep) recycling paper

Finding a reason to separate waste for recycling is perhaps the first step in changing one’s attitude and behaviour, says Edith Leeuta, CEO of Fibre Circle, the producer responsibility organisation for the South African paper and paper packaging sector.

1

Today’s grocery delivery, tomorrow’s cardboard box

Paper is a raw material and used to make new products such as cardboard boxes, paper bags, toilet paper and facial tissue. By keeping used paper and paper packaging clean and dry, and away from wet waste, you help to keep it in good condition for its next life.

A recent study found that the paper fibres in cardboard boxes could be recycled up to 25 times before the fibres become unusable.

2 Landfills are taking strain

Recycling reduces the amount of waste going to landfills, which are already stressed. For every tonne of paper that is collected, three cubic metres of landfill space are saved. South Africa’s well-established paper recycling industry ensures that more than one million tonnes are kept out of landfills every year and recycled into new products, but there is certainly room for improvement.

3

Your ‘trash’ is someone’s treasure

Recycling is a source of income for an estimated 60 000 to 90 000 men and women countrywide, and some recyclables are like gold for waste collectors.

You can make a collector’s work cleaner, quicker and easier by keeping certain recyclables out of your bin and in a separate bag or box.

Recyclable paper items include used office paper, brown cardboard boxes, clean packaging such as cereal, toothpaste, pizza and takeaway boxes, grocery delivery bags and takeaway bags, paper cups, and milk and juice cartons.

You can also put aside plastic milk bottles, PET soft drink bottles, fabric softener bottles, aluminium soft drink cans and tin cans.

It is, however, a good idea to find out what your neighbourhood collectors take. (They may only take certain items and this may differ from area to area.)

4

And it’s not about saving trees! Leeuta cautions, “We need to bust the myth that recycling paper saves trees because, in South Africa, paper is produced from sustainably managed forests, which are farmed for the purpose of making wood and paper products.”

This ‘farming’ entails planting, growing, harvesting and, importantly, replanting with a lot of science and environmental management in between. According to the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa, less than 10% of the total plantation area (676 000 hectares) is harvested annually, and is replanted in the same year.

Also, while these trees are growing, they take up carbon dioxide, make carbohydrates using energy from the sun and release oxygen.

Trees store carbon in their wood. Even when wood is chipped, pulped and made into paper, the carbon stays locked up.

By recycling our paper, we ensure that this carbon remains locked up for longer. So, there’s your fourth and best reason –recycle to invest in your planet and mitigate climate change.

Tyres are among the largest and most problematic sources of waste – not only in South Africa but globally. It is estimated that there are millions of waste tyres lying in dumps and stockpiles or scattered across the country in residential, industrial and rural areas.

Worldwide, the amount of used polymer products is increasing by the year: most of this is used automobile tyres. Various studies like JATMA (Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association) quantify the global waste tyre problem at between 1 billion and 1.8 billion used tyres disposed of worldwide each year.

This represents roughly 2-3% of all waste material collected.

China, the countries of the EU, USA, Japan and India produce the largest volume of tyre waste – almost 88% of the total number of tyres around the world. According to a tyre market report by BlueWeave Consulting, the South African tyre market was worth US$2 093.2 million (R36.8 billion) in the year 2021 and is expected to reach $3 041.9 million (R56.1 billion) by 2028.

Toxic tyres

Whether dumped, burnt or landfilled, every tyre that isn’t properly recycled leaches toxic and hazardous compounds into the environment. These toxic chemicals consist of lead, cadmium, dioxins, furans, hydrogen chloride, benzene, polychlorinated biphenyls, arsenic, mercury, chromium, and vanadium –substances that are detrimental to the health of communities and environment.

The different chemical compositions and the cross-linked structures of rubber in tyres is the main reason why they are highly resistant to