The History of Recycled Paper

If it were not for the efforts of the world's paper recycling industries, tremendous volumes of waste paper from discarded newspapers and magazines, junk mail and printer scrap would end up in the waste stream and, thus, in local landfills and incinerators.

Approximately half of all of the paper recovered is sourced from industry and business as commercial waste. Another third of all recovered paper comes from households, with paper collection and recovery representing one of the most direct ways in which the public can participate in saving the environment. Almost any household paper can be recycled, including used newspapers, cardboard, packaging, stationery, direct mail, magazines, catalogs, greeting cards and wrapping paper.

Recycled Paper in the United States of America

Recovering waste materials for the manufacturing of paper products has long been a practice in the United States. The history of recycled paper has several major dates of importance:

• 1690: The first paper mill to use recovered linen was established by the Rittenhouse family.
• 1896: The first major recycling center was started by the Benedetto family in New York City, where they collected rags, newspaper, and trash with a pushcart.
• 1993: The first year when more paper was recycled than was buried in landfills.

In many instances, recovered paper accounts for more than half the volume of raw material used in the production of recycled content products. High recycling rates are achieved in many countries around the world. In Europe, for example, the recycled paper industry met the voluntary target of a 56% recycling rate by 2005.

Already more than six centuries old, paper recycling has grown substantially during the last few years and continues to expand. Many packaging materials, newsprint and tissues are made wholly or in part from recycled paper fiber. The recycled paper industry collects material, sorts and segregates it into various grades, bales it for ease of handling, and transports it for subsequent re-pulping.

Thanks to government incentives and industry leadership and the tireless efforts of the millions of Americans who recycle paper at home, work, and school paper recycling has reached record levels. In 2008, 57.4 percent of the paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling. This impressive figure equals 340 pounds for each man, woman, and child in America.

At the same time it should be noted that paper consumption also continues to rise and the pressures on the world’s remaining forests is formidable. And although a lot of paper is being recycled, less than 10% of the printing and writing papers being manufactured today contain post-consumer recycled content.