Environmental impact of paper
The rise in global environmental issues such as air and water pollution, climate change, overflowing landfills and clearcutting have all lead to increased government regulations.
However, the entire paper and printing sector contributes less than 1% to the global greenhouse gas inventory due to the very high use of renewable energy, mostly biomass.
Plantation forests, from where the majority of wood for pulping is obtained, is generally a monoculture and this raises concerns over the ecological effects of the practice.
[22][23] The National Emissions Inventory in the U.S.[24] and the Air Pollutant Emission Inventory (APEI) in Canada[3][10][25] compile annual emissions of air pollutants that contribute to smog, acid rain, greenhouse gases and diminished air quality including particulate matter (PM), sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), cadmium, lead, mercury, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as dioxins and furans, hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).
[26] Of the releases to air by the pulp and paper industry, 60% were methanol which is not a persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemical and is not a carcinogen.
Several PBTs are emitted by the pulp and paper industry at measurable levels, including lead, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), dioxins, furans and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
[24][25] Wastewater discharges for a pulp and paper mill contains solids, nutrients and dissolved organic matter such as lignin.
Organic matter dissolved in fresh water, measured by biological oxygen demand (BOD), changes ecological characteristics.
[27] Recent studies underline as an appropriate pre-treatment of the wastewater (e.g. the coagulation) is cost-effective solution for the removal of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and the reduction of the pressures on the aquatic environment.
[29] In 2014, 97.5%, 99.9% and 99.8% of effluent samples from pulp and paper mills met regulatory requirements for toxicity tests on fish, biochemical oxygen demand, and total suspended solids, respectively.
[13] In 2015, the pulp and paper sector was ranked first in the amount of toxic weighted pound equivalents (TWPE) discharged to water by industry.
Recycling the effluent (see black liquor) and burning it, using bioremediation ponds and employing less damaging agents in the pulping and bleaching processes can help reduce water pollution.
In the past, plants using elemental chlorine produced significant quantities of dioxins,[35] persistent and very toxic organic pollutants.
"[38] Most TCF pulp is produced in Sweden and Finland for sale in Germany,[36] all markets with a high level of environmental awareness.
[40] ECF bleaching can substantially reduce but not fully eliminate chlorinated organic compounds, including dioxins, from effluent.
On the one hand, paper and chemical industry-funded studies have generally found that there is no environmental difference between ECF and TCF effluents.
Other chemicals that are released into the air and water from most paper mills include the following:[46] Bleaching mechanical pulp is not a major cause for environmental concern since most of the organic material is retained in the pulp, and the chemicals used (hydrogen peroxide and sodium dithionite) produce benign byproducts (water and, eventually, sodium sulfate, respectively).
However, the bleaching of chemical pulps has the potential to cause significant environmental damage, primarily through the release of organic materials into waterways.
An increased public awareness of environmental issues from the 1970s and 1980s, as evidenced by the formation of organizations like Greenpeace, influenced the pulping industry and governments to address the release of these materials into the environment.
Dioxins are highly toxic, and health effects on humans include reproductive, developmental, immune and hormonal problems.
[61] This managed land, in turn, provides a host of continuing eco-system services, from clean water, healthy soil and climate change mitigation to recreational opportunities and aesthetic beauty.
Peracetic acid, ozone[68] and hydrogen peroxide and oxygen are used in bleaching sequences in the pulp industry to produce totally chlorine free (TCF) paper.
[79][80] For all the state-of-the-art technology now incorporated into modern paper mills, the industry's underlying structure is still based upon a worldview that was transformative in the 19th-century but is out-of-date as the 21st century approaches.
EPA first issued national wastewater standards, known as effluent guidelines, for pulp and paper mills in 1974, pursuant to the Clean Water Act.
[82] Effluent limitations are implemented in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, which are renewed every five years.
The wastewater regulations in the CR apply to mills that combine chlorine bleaching with kraft chemical pulping and aim to reduce dioxins, furan, and chloroform discharges by 96%, 96%, and 99%, respectively.
[84] EPA added numeric effluent limitations for 12 chlorinated phenolic pollutants and adsorbable organic halides (AOX).
Three main issues with the environmental impact of printing inks is the use of volatile organic compounds, heavy metals and non-renewable oils.
De-inking at Cross Pointe's Miami, Ohio mill in the United States results in sludge weighing 22% of the weight of wastepaper recycled.
[96] In the 1970s federal regulations for inks in the United States governed the use of toxic metals such as lead, arsenic, selenium, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium.
