![]() ![]() Recycled paper production uses 50% less energy and 90% less water per tonne than virgin paper and requires just 25% of the amount of bleach used in new office paper. Recycled paper saves water and energy, reduces pollution and landfill ![]() ![]() And, more than half of Australia’s recovered paper is used domestically for the production of paper and paperboard products. In 2020–2021, 62% of all paper products consumed in Australia were recovered. In comparison to plastic and e-waste, paper waste has a much smaller impact on the environment.Īustralia is a leader in paper recycling. And the recovery rate for plastic products in 2020–2021 was just 13%, with an estimated 87% of plastic waste ending up in landfills. And although roughly 54% of our e-waste is sent for recycling, current processes can only recover about 35% of the material inputs.ĭespite public perception that we recycle around 50% of e-waste, only 17.4% of e-waste products are effectively recycled. That’s more than the combined weight of all the commercial airliners ever made.Īccording to a 2019 report from the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) and the UN E-Waste Coalition, the total figure is expected to reach 74 million tonnes by 2030 and as much as 120 million tonnes by 2050.Īustralia generated 531,000 tonnes of e-waste in 2020–21 – up 2.6% on the previous year. Imagine throwing away more than 800 laptops every second, and you’ll get an indication of the scale of the global e-waste issue.Īpproximately 57.4 million tonnes of e-waste was generated globally in 2021. Printers, monitors, televisions, and computers, this electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) is one of the fastest growing waste streams on the planet. Generated by the large scale disposal of digital devices such as laptops, mobile phones, In fact, our increasing reliance of digital devices has led to a new kind of waste. Myth #2 Going paperless eliminates wasteĪnother common misconception is the idea that going paperless eliminates or reduces waste. Research shows that the global regions with the biggest industrial timber harvests and forest product outputs are also the regions with the lowest rates of deforestation.Īustralian native and planted forests play a vital role in the global carbon cycle, fresh water supplies, biodiversity conservation and the preservation of environmental and social values. Responsible paper use promotes forest growth Yet, the volume of logs harvested increased by 16.1%. In the 10 years from from 2007–2008 to 2017–2018, Australia’s paper and paperboard consumption decreased by 18.6%. ![]() The Department of Agriculture’s 2019 forestry report shows clearly that using less paper does not reduce tree harvesting. While it seems logical to assume that going paperless means fewer trees will be harvested, this is not supported by data. Paper is produced by an environmentally-conscious industry whose entire future depends on planting more trees than it consumes. Myth #1: Going paperless saves treesĬontrary to popular belief, going paperless does NOT save trees. In this article, we’ll be busting some of the myths and misconceptions that have sprung up around going paperless and take a look at a few of the environmental and personal benefits of using paper in the digital age. Assertions such as ‘go paperless – go green’ and ‘go paperless, save trees’ often fail to take into account several “inconvenient” truths about the true environmental costs of digitisation, and blatantly ignore the inherent sustainability of paper. While there are benefits to going paperless, there is also a fair amount of hype and “greenwashing” surrounding the topic. Since the early part of the 21st century, there’s been a strong push towards the creation of paperless offices, where all documents and communication are digitised with little to no physical paper being used. ![]()
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