Is paper recycling bad?

Asked by: Gearoid Fogerty, Tipperary. Around 35 per cent of all trees cut down are used to make paper – that's 160,000km2 of forest chopped down every year. But trees are a renewable resource and only nine per cent of the trees used for paper come from ancient forests. read more

A column in a recent issue of Environmental Leader examines the detriments of paper recycling. A column in a recent issue of Environmental Leader examines the detriments of paper recycling. 4.7 stars from 521 reviews. read more

In favour of recycling is the fact that paper mills use toxic compounds such as toluene, methanol and formaldehyde. A report by the US Environmental Protection Agency states that paper mills are among the worst polluters of any industry in the US. read more

At a certain point, though, recycling developed something of a dark side from an environmental perspective. On the surface, it's still a good idea both to recycle waste and to design products and packaging with the idea of recycling them in a closed loop. read more