Sustainability is one of the current topics of our time and occupies many industries. This also applies to paper companies. At first glance, the paper industry has particularly good opportunities to implement sustainability aspects.
Although wood is a fossil raw material, it is also a renewable one, and there are now many recycling options for paper and cardboard. Nevertheless, the industry is struggling with its energy consumption in view of the current energy crisis.
The crisis-ridden development in energy supply in particular shows how important it is to make sustainability a basic principle of the entire paper production process. Likewise, water consumption in the production of paper is always in focus.
It is therefore the task of the paper industry to further promote resource conservation and sustainability at all levels. Not only for ecological reasons, but also for economic reasons.
When prices for water and energy supply continue to rise, sustainability is also a means of continuing to be able to produce economically. This aspect is often not seen at first glance.
Sustainability still seems more like a moral obligation owed to the zeitgeist. This is not the case. Sustainability has a real economic background that no branch of industry, and thus also the paper industry, can ignore.
The manufacturing companies belong to an industry that has been dealing with the issues of sustainability and resource conservation for a long time. Therefore, they cannot be accused of not having recognized the importance of sustainability.
Particularly in the case of paper made from wood fibers, the system-relevant industry is striving to continue to become more sustainable. What is the current situation regarding the sustainability of paper fibers made from wood? We have compiled the current findings for you in this article.
Where are paper fibers made from wood used?
Paper production currently relies largely on plant fibers from trees. The cellulose fibers that are later processed into paper are obtained from wood. Quite simply explained, paper consists of swollen and dried wood fibers.
This also explains why water is needed for paper production. In a first production step, the wood fibers have to be fluffed up. In the process, they are also compressed.
Various techniques are used to obtain cellulose fibers. The fibers are produced when wood is pulverized or cooked. Different techniques are used depending on whether pulp board or fine paper is required as end products. Here, the remaining wood content in the paper end products varies. Depending on the desired end product and the technique used, the end result can even be an almost wood-free paper.
In principle, paper products can also be manufactured from other plant fibers. Various alternative fibers have long been tested for their suitability for industrial paper production. At present, however, other plant fibers cannot yet replace wood in paper production on a large scale.
Wood fiber is the most important raw material for all paper products. |
What is the carbon footprint of paper?
Thecarbon footprint left by paper production depends to a large extent on the quantities produced. Producing companies have been striving to reduce theirCO2 emissions for some time now.
The most significant component here is the further expansion of renewable energies in electricity production. As long as the paper industry, like most other companies in the industry as a whole, remains dependent on natural gas and coal, itscarbon footprint will be worse than it could potentially be through the use of renewable energies.
The efforts the industry is making here to become more sustainable do not depend on it alone. Overall, paper companies are particularly dependent on a reliable power supply. Here, bottlenecks and price increases quickly threaten the existence of the company.
Paper companies can further reduceCO2 consumption if they succeed in drawing more energy for their needs from renewable sources. However, not every company will be able to further expand its own ecological energy production.
Therefore, improvements in theCO2 balance depend, among other things, on the availability and use of more ecologically generated electricity on the market overall.
What about water consumption?
Water is also an indispensable element in the production of paper and pulp board from wood fibers. Around 8 liters are required per kilogram of paper. In this area, too, the paper industry has been working for decades to reduce consumption. This has been demonstrably successful; in 1980, consumption was still around 25 l/kg of paper.
Likewise, paper companies are increasingly working on forming closed cycles for the water used in their own production process. Currently, 20 percent of the water used still ends up in municipal wastewater treatment plants. This means that around 80 percent is used in closed production cycles. The companies use their own wastewater treatment plants for this purpose. Water is also needed to clean waste paper when it is recycled.
The paper industry is working to further reduce the amount of water used in production. Resource-saving cycles mean that less and less fresh water is needed. |
Cutting down trees as a problem - truth or fallacy?
Wood consumption in the paper industry is often viewed critically. In order to approach this issue objectively, various aspects must be considered:
- Wood is a renewable Raw material and fulfilled
thus fundamental sustainability criteria.
- The fossil resource is managed all over the world. Responsible, sustainable management can maintain the ecological balance of forest areas.
- The paper industry is a secondary user of wood as a raw material. In contrast to the furniture industry, for example, it does not use logs, but to a large extent waste from sawmills and trees from so-called thinning. Raw materials from thinning are products of ecological management of forest areas, because trees are felled in the process that can have a negative impact on the overall balance.
- The German paper industry ensures that sustainable management is also guaranteed for imported woods.
Possible burdens for the environment
Chlorine-free bleached paper has little impact on the environment. The paper industry cannot do completely without bleaching processes, because white paper is needed for various applications. German paper companies do not use any toxic elemental chlorine, i.e. pure chlorine.
Instead, chlorine compounds such as chlorine dioxide and hypochloride are used. Papers bleached with these are referred to as elemental chlorine-free (ECF) ble ached. Another, even more environmentally friendly option is bleaching with oxygen compounds such as hydrogen peroxide or ozone. However, these totally chlorine-free bleached (TCF) papers do not become quite as white.
Paper in its pure form is biodegradable. Cellulose consists of carbon chains, an organic starting material. It is related to sugar.
Problematic ingredients can become an issue via printed papers in recycling processes. This is one of the reasons why paper recycling is increasingly being questioned.
Paper and cellulose board are needed primarily in the packaging industry. Mineral oil residues can get into food via recycled paper. This aspect is always under discussion.
At present, it is not possible to foresee whether the problem of pollutants in recycled paper can be completely solved. Another problem is the lack of reliable limit values for many pollutants in this area that could affect the environment and people.
Cleaning waste paper is a complex process. The life cycle assessment of paper recycling is not always convincing. |
Conclusion - Is paper made from wood fiber sustainable or not?
As long as authoritative industry standards such as the processing of wood waste from controlled and certified forestry are adhered to, paper made from wood fiber can be sustainable. Sustainability here already results from the fact that wood is a renewable raw material.
At the same time, to achieve optimal sustainability standards, water and energy consumption must be optimized even further, if possible, as part of closed-loop systems.
Opinions differ on the sustainability of wood fiber paper and pulp board. The environmental associations consider only recycled paper to be sustainable. However, if one considers the possible pollutants that arise during paper recycling, this conclusion can be questioned.
Overall, the paper industry in particular has good opportunities to achieve a high percentage of sustainability through the renewable raw material wood and controlled, transparent production processes.
The sustainability aspect of the energy required for production cannot be fully influenced by the paper companies alone. In this area, more energy from sustainable, renewable energy sources must be available, affordable and reliable. This is a political and macroeconomic issue that cannot be solved by the paper industry alone.
FAQ
What is the current situation regarding the sustainability of paper made from wood fibers?
The renewable raw material wood and controlled production processes in closed cycles form a good basis for realizing sustainability.
What role does energy consumption play in the sustainability debate of paper made from wood fibers?
Dependent on a reliable energy supply, paper companies today still cannot get around fossil energy sources. This is not an original problem of the paper industry, but also depends on the fact that not enough stable energy from renewable sources is yet available. One hundred percent sustainability will only be achieved when energy generation in this context is also sustainable.
Why is the paper industry unable to avoid the issue of sustainability?
Paper made from wood fibers is still the most important basis for all paper production today. Sustainability is not just an ecological requirement. Economy and ecology are closely linked when it comes to the competitiveness of German paper companies. With rising energy prices and raw material shortages in various areas, only sustainable production stands for the necessary continuity in the entire paper manufacturing process.
