Every year, according to the National Academies Press, roughly 3.5 billion cubic meters of wood is harvested around the world. This creates a need for sustainable production of wood, paper, and fuel for the global community. 500 million cubic meters is used on pulp and paper alone, so reducing our carbon footprint is going to involve more than just writing fewer letters. It’s time to think about more sustainable methods to improve the efficiency of these industries and ensure they can adapt to modern needs. Paper isn’t the commodity it used to be.
As a result, companies are looking downstream for methods to reduce their impact on the global economy. Recycling byproducts, and improving the efficiency and wear solutions for the paper industry are fast becoming top priorities. Less factory waste means better long-term growth.
Recycling and Sustainability
The fact is that all producers who work with wood, from logging to paper, need to work double time to ensure they are creating a sustainable product. Illegal deforestation contributes to air pollution through the increase of methane gas emissions. A focus on recycling, and on reducing factory pollution, helps to offset the losses of a forest grown for the purposes of paper or wood production.
Sustainability has other benefits too. The paper industry spends a great deal of money on machinery, employees and materials to produce its products. As the volume of recycled paper increases, the costs of materials will decrease. The industry doesn’t need to pay the premium of re-planting forests, and it becomes easier to acquire raw materials for production.
Pest Control
Using pesticides may be one of the most effective ways to deal with insects that can cause serious harm to logging operations, but pesticides are a problem for every aspect of farming. Want cotton? How about fruits and vegetables? You’ll deal with the same problems of resistance, and possible contamination of the local environment unless you can find a way to deal with pests that don’t involve harmful chemicals.
One method suggested by the Invertebrate Conservation Society is to create a more diverse forest ecosystem when producing for the purposes of logging. Varying age and species can do a great deal for cutting down pests without resorting to harmful chemicals.
Factory Wear
Another source of pollution not often taken into account are the means of production themselves: the factories that process and refine raw materials. Lumber, cotton, paper and the many byproducts of oil are all engineered in factories on equipment with finite lifespans. During a factory renovation, also called a “turn around”, older machinery is stripped out and replaced with new equipment. It might be more efficient, emit fewer harmful gases or provide a safer experience for employees. It still leaves behind industrial waste in the form of the machinery and equipment that was replaced.
Sustainable factories can mean a lot of changes. It might mean incorporating more solar energy or thinking outside the box for cooling (such as liquid cooling solutions). It also means investing in better quality parts that have a longer lifespan. The costs are typically outweighed by the benefits: lower disposal costs, longer operational lifespan, fewer maintenance costs and better efficiency are just a few of the ways paper producers are delving into efficiency.
Final Thoughts
The goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and paper producers are joining every industry in trying to do their part. Reducing factory waste, improving sustainability and reducing the use of harmful chemicals will have long-term impacts for industry sustainability.
