Wood and paper-based products have environmental implications at every stage of their life cycle. Recycling is better in general because it can reduce the demand on virgin fiber to a certain degree. From a life cycle assessment (LCA) perspective, the environmental impacts of fiber recycling and reuse need to be considered. Enhancing one aspect of fiber recycling could offset the benefits and increase the negative impacts in another stage of the life cycle of the product.
There are disagreements among stakeholders about the benefits and negative environmental impacts of recycled fiber.
| Virgin fiber product | Recycled fiber product | |
|---|---|---|
| Raw material acquisition | Trees grown, harvested, transported and chipped. | Used products collected, transported, and sorted. There might be cases, where paper with high content of recycled fiber generates more fossil fuel-based CO2 emissions because of transportation. |
| Raw material processing | Water, energy, and chemicals used to extract fibers from wood chips. | Water, energy, and chemicals used to clean and re-pulp used products, remove fillers, and de-ink fibers. |
| Processing by-products | Air emissions, water effluent, non-hazardous waste (wastewater treatment residuals). Some solid waste used as soil nutrients. | Fewer air emissions, similar water effluent, significantly more wastewater treatment residuals. |
| Product manufacturing | Water and energy used to make paper from pulp. | Water and energy used to make paper from pulp. Recycled fibers can increase the amount of energy (including fossil fuel energy) needed in paper-making because they dry less efficiently. Fibers that shorten/break during recycling process can end up as solid waste. |
| Product use | The amount of fiber or product needed to perform a given task (i.e., make 100 copies, absorb 2 grams of fluid). | Recycling process breaks and stiffens fibers, resulting in reduced performance in some types of products. More fiber per sheet may be needed or more product used to adjust for poorer performance. |
| Product disposal | Paper products typically recycled or disposed as solid waste or in wastewater. When products are no longer recyclable they can be burned to generate energy | Similar disposal routes for products made from recycled fibers. When products are no longer recyclable they can be burned to generate energy. |