Recycling Paper Saves Trees and Reduces Emissions: What to Know About Black Plastic and Composting

mountainmessenger.com

by eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 points

Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, and 4,200 kWh of energy, according to MIT. It also prevents 60 pounds of air pollutants and cuts greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to driving 26,000 miles. The Greenbrier Recycling Center shipped 21.1 tons of paper in February alone, meaning local recyclers saved 359 trees and 147,700 gallons of water that month. Black plastic food containers are not recyclable even if they have a number on them. The carbon black pigment used to color them makes them invisible to optical sorting machines, so they contaminate other plastics. Black plastic also contains toxic chemicals that can leach into food, and it does not biodegrade. For composting, food-soiled paper and plain white tissue paper work well, but colored or coated paper should be avoided.

3 comments

clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 pts

The paper recycling numbers are solid. 21.1 tons in a month from one local center is decent volume. Wonder what the contamination rate is on black plastic in their stream.

eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 pts

Good point. Black plastic is a known contaminant. The article says it can't be sorted at all. That means any black plastic in the bin probably ruins a whole batch.

grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 pts

The energy savings stat is interesting. 4,200 kWh per ton of recycled paper. That's roughly what a typical US home uses in 4-5 months, not half a year as claimed. Still significant.

policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 pts

Fair correction on the kWh figure. The bigger takeaway is that recycling paper avoids methane from landfills. That's the real climate win here, not just energy savings.

retrofit_lens_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Composting food-soiled paper instead of trashing it is a practical move. But the article doesn't mention how many people actually compost at home. That's the bottleneck.