Metafore: A Nonprofit Environmental Organization

The following documents provide further information on developing practices that promote responsible forestry, paper recovery and efficient paper use (all are PDFs):

A definition of the paper fiber life cycle that illustrates and details sourcing, transforming, using and disposing of paper.
A communications slide deck that provides an overview of the paper fiber life cycle and summarizes Metafore's findings.
A frequently asked questions document that describes how the paper fiber life cycle operates in Canada and the U.S.
The complete analysis report on the paper fiber life cycle that details the methodology and data sources Metafore used to inform the project work.

The Paper Fiber Life Cycle

How does the combination of fresh fiber and recovered fiber satisfy PAPER demand in the U.S. and Canada?

Commercially harvested trees are utilized in many products - including paper

More than 90% of every tree harvested in Canada and the United States is utilized (10% remains in the forest as woody debris)
Paper production consumes 34% of commercially harvested trees

But paper is not made directly from trees but a combination of fiber inputs

Fresh fiber:

chipped logs (pulpwood)
shavings and sawdust from sawmills (byproducts)

Recycled paper (from municipal and business collection)

And the rate of fiber recovery has increased steadily in last 25 years

Recovery in Canada and the U.S. reached 53% in 2005 (53 million tons)
Today, recycled fiber has risen to 31% average content in paper made in Canada and the United State

Recycling recovered fiber has some technical limitations

Fibers weaken with repeated recycling and eventually break
Broken fibers are filtered out the repulping process at a rate of 12-30% depending on the new grade that is being made
The chart below indicated the yield rate for using recovered fiber in four paper grades (yield is percent of fibers not lost in the process)

Paper fibers can be used 4-9 times depending on the new paper grade produced

What paper grades utilize recovered paper?

The economics of recovery, fiber yield rates, quality issues, grade utilization efficiency and other factors combine to create this utilization picture

Then how long can we make paper without fresh fiber?

Since recycled fibers eventually wear out and some fiber is inevitably lost, the fiber cycle requires continuous input on fresh fiber
So even with maximum recycling (the theoretical highest rate), we would run out of fiber for making paper within a few months if fresh fiber were not added to the fiber cycle

Summary of Findings

The U.S. and Canada continue to increase recovery rates
Recovered fiber is fully utilized
Recovered fibers are fairly short-lived
Different grades of paper utilize recovered fiber more efficiently than others but yield is reduced with every pass
Increasing recovery is the key to improving the efficiency of the fiber cycle
Even at the highest possible recovery rate the fiber cycle will continue to require significant inputs of virgin fiber to continue to produce paper

Conclusions

Increasing recovery is the key to improving the efficiency of the fiber cycle
Even at the highest possible recovery rate the fiber cycle will continue to require significant inputs of virgin fiber to continue to produce paper

Paper Fiber Life Cycle Research

The Paper Fiber Life Cycle

How does the combination of fresh fiber and recovered fiber satisfy PAPER demand in the U.S. and Canada?

Commercially harvested trees are utilized in many products - including paper

But paper is not made directly from trees but a combination of fiber inputs

And the rate of fiber recovery has increased steadily in last 25 years

Recycling recovered fiber has some technical limitations

Paper fibers can be used 4-9 times depending on the new paper grade produced

What paper grades utilize recovered paper?

Then how long can we make paper without fresh fiber?

Summary of Findings

Conclusions