Recycling paper saves energy because it uses about 65% less energy than it would take to process virgin wood pulp and produce new paper, even after accounting for the energy used to sort and process recycled paper. When paper is recycled, its fibers become weakened, and virgin wood pulp must be added to strengthen it. Recycled paper can be used as many as six times, so it saves on the amount of virgin wood pulp that must be processed. Recycled paper production also saves 80% on water and generates about 95% less air pollution.
More about recycling:
- Recycling cardboard saves about 25% of the energy it would require to create new cardboard.
- The amount of energy saved from recycling one aluminum can could power a television for three hours, because processing recycled aluminum takes just 5% of the energy that it takes to produce new aluminum.
- Producing recycled glass decreases pollution by 50% and uses 50% less energy than producing new glass.
