Archived press release

FOE Rubbishes Reports That Recycling Is Bad

21 November 1997

New research published today by FOE [1] directly contradicts recent press reports [2] that recycling is bad for the environment. FOE's report also shows how recycling is good for the UK economy.

Many studies on paper recycling have concentrated only on disposal options for waste paper, ignoring the impact on forests and wildlife of the massive demand for new paper.Increasing paper recycling would decrease pressure on the world's wildlife-rich forests,which are being destroyed and degraded to supply paper. Global demand for paper is set to rise by around 50% in the next 15 years [3]; irrespective of how this paper is disposed of, natural forests worldwide will be destroyed to supply it.

In Scandinavia, where the UK gets most of its paper, 95% of the natural forest has been converted to wildlife-poor intensive industrial forestry and hundreds of plant and animal species are threatened as a result. Despite this, the last fragments of old, natural forest are still being chopped down. In Canada, the last temperate rainforests in the world are being clear-felled to supply timber and paper.

FOE's research shows that recycling is not only good for forests and wildlife but also produces less pollution than making paper from new wood. The paper industry has previously claimed that it helps to combat global warming because growing trees absorb carbon dioxide but a comprehensive study by the International Institute for Environment and Development [4] has concluded that the industry is the third largest industrial emitterof greenhouse gases.

There is also growing concern with the environmental and health impacts of disposing of paper and other wastes. Because of this the European Union is coming forward with proposals to reduce pollution from these activities [5].

The UK, despite being the fifth largest paper user in the world, only recycles 40 per cent of its waste paper, compared with the 70 per cent recycled in a number of other European countries [6]. FOE's report shows that if the UK recycled as much paper as Austria, it could reduce import bills by over a billion pounds (most of our paper is currently imported) [7].

Dr Georgina Green of Friends of the Earth said:

"Ancient forests worldwide are still being felled to supply the spiralling demand for paper. Rather than questioning the value of recycling, magazines such as New Scientist, whose publishers buy paper from a Finnish company involved in this destruction, should be demanding that these precious forests are protected,and promoting more recycling to take pressure off forests."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] Paper recycling - exposing the myths

[2] Article by Fred Pearce in New Scientist magazine, 20 Nov 1997.

[3] McNutt and Rennel, The future of fiber in tomorrow's world, Pulp and Paper International, January 1997.

[4] A Changing Future for Paper, International Institute for Environment and Development,1996.

[5] The European Union are currently negotiating a draft landfill Directive (COM (97) 105 final) to improve standards at landfills and are coming forwards with proposals to reduce pollution from incineration (ENDS Report 270, July 1997).

[6] Latest recycling figures (1996), published in Environment Watch, 5th September 1997.The report states that Austria and Germany are recycling 70 per cent of paper, the Netherlands and Sweden 65 per cent, and Finland 61 per cent. Paper consumption figures are published Pulp and Paper International 1997 Annual Report.

[7] If UK paper imports were replaced with recycled paper (increasing the recycling rate from 40 percent to 70 per cent) the UK import bill would be reduced by around 1.2 billion.(It costs the UK around $600 to import each a tonne of paper)

New Recycling Research

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