Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
Today we have a question from Freya McGeoch. She wants to know about paper recycling.
Freya McGeoch: I wasted a lot of paper because I just like to draw randomly, but my parents say it’s okay if I recycle it, but I don’t know what happens when it gets recycled.
We had Harrison Katz and Fatima Husain from our Possibly Team look into this. Welcome, Harrison and Fatima!
Harrison Katz: Hi, Megan!
Fatima Husain: Hello!
Megan Hall: So, what does happen when you recycle paper?
Harrison Katz: As you probably know, once you bring your bin out to the curb, it’s hauled to a recycling plant.
Fatima Husain: Most of these plants recycle many different kinds of materials, but there are some around the country that focus entirely on paper.
Megan Hall: So, what happens after the paper reaches the plant?
Fatima Husain: Then it enters the second step of the recycling system: processing.
Harrison Katz: If the paper arrives at a multi-purpose plant, that means it first gets separated from all of the other recyclables.
Karissa Jones: There’s a combination of machines that sort it out, and also people.
Fatima Husain: That’s Karissa Jones, she works for Waste Management out in Seattle, Washington.
Karissa Jones: In that process, we’re relying on the fact that paper is flat, other materials are three dimensional. And so we’re sorting out the paper from every other recyclable material.
Harrison Katz: Once the paper is on its own, it’s sorted based on its grade.
Megan Hall: What do you mean by grade?
Harrison Katz: Well, the grade basically tells you the quality of the paper, and what it was used for in the past. This determines what it can be turned into in the future.
Fatima Husain: For example, Freya’s paper is recycled differently depending on whether she draws on copy paper or cardstock.
Harrison Katz: Once the paper has been sorted, it enters phase 3: remanufacturing. This is when the paper actually gets turned into something else, that is, IF it hasn’t been recycled too many times already.
Fatima Husain: Karissa says some materials can be recycled basically forever, but not paper.
Karissa Jones: it can be recycled up to seven times. Maybe a piece of cardboard, gets recycled into, say, office paper. And eventually, it might end up as a paper towel or a napkin. At that point, it’s kind of at the end of its life in terms of recycling.
Megan Hall: So, paper only has seven lives!
Harrison Katz: Yes! And some papers have fewer lives than that! In fact, only about 75% of paper collected at recycling plants can be reused at all.
Megan Hall: Why?
Fatima Husain: Well, the other 25% is often too contaminated with food waste and other forms of trash to be turned into something else.
Megan Hall: Is that why I can’t recycle my pizza boxes?
Harrison Katz: Yes, and it’s also why you shouldn’t try to put used paper plates or napkins in your recycling bin either.
Megan Hall: So, it sounds like a majority of the paper we recycle does get reused, but what’s the energy cost of all of this processing?
Fatima Husain: It’s actually pretty high. The energy used to recycle one sheet of office paper could power an LED light bulb for hours.
Megan Hall: Woah. So, is it even worth it to recycle paper?
Harrison Katz: Well, that’s still 31% less energy than it takes to make a new sheet of paper, plus, it means we’re cutting down fewer trees. So, yes, recycling still makes sense.
Megan Hall: So, what’s the take-away for Freya?
Fatima Husain: Well, using about a third less energy is great, but using no energy is even better.
Harrison Katz: To save energy, Freya might want to use scrap paper for doodling, and save the new paper for her best artwork. And for doodling, use both sides of the paper for sure.
Megan Hall: I’ll let her know! Thanks, Harrison and Fatima! And thanks to Angela Zhang and Olivia George for their help with this episode.
That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly.
Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and the Public’s Radio.
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