The Paper Cycle

Ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians and Chinese initially made their paper from cloth, which was shredded, cooked and pounded into pulp. In the mid 1800s, wood was found to be a good substitute for cloth, and it worked better with the newly invented printing press.  Now in modern time, we have found new ways of producing paper by utilizing our old paper, which would otherwise become waste in our landfills.

The recycling process for paper begins when paper is put in your recycling container.  Your recycling container is then placed at the curb and your paper is transported to a Material Recovery Facility usually referred to as a MRF.  Once the paper reaches the MRF, it is taken to giant conveyer belts that move the material through the facility. These conveyer belts are called “the sorting line”.  People work at the sorting line separating the paper into different types or “grades” of paper.   After the paper is sorted, it is taken to a big machine called a baler where the paper is smashed together and made into a giant brick.  Each brick weighs about 1,000 pounds.  The paper is then loaded onto trucks or rail cars and sent to paper mills around the country or even to Mexico.

When the paper arrives at the mill, the process of making new paper begins.  The paper is put onto a “drum pulper” where warm water and soap cause the paper fibers to begin to break down into “slurry”, which looks like the oatmeal you have for breakfast. 

The slurry is then screened to remove whatever may have gotten mixed in the paper by mistake, like a soda can or bottle.  The slurry is now ready for removing the ink.

The second step puts the slurry onto a “floatation cell” which uses air to form bubbles that cause the ink to separate from the pulp.  The ink floats to the top and is skimmed off.  The pulp slurry is cleaned one more time by spraying water.  The pulp slurry is now ready to be turned into new paper.

The pulp is sprayed on to wire screens to form a flat surface.  It then goes through pressing and drying rollers to form a smooth dry surface.

The paper is made into giant rolls, which can be sent to printers around the world.  It only takes about two weeks for the paper you recycle in your home to be picked up, sent to the mill, made into new paper and returned to your news stand!

Did you know?

• Every year Americans throw away enough paper to build a wall 12’ foot high that would stretch from New York to Los Angeles.
  
• Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees. 
  
• Recycling paper saves 7,000 gallons of water, that is enough to fill a gasoline tanker truck.