How Paper Recycling Works

Recycling How Paper Works Today about half of the paper in America gets recycled after it's been used. That's 53.5 million tons - or 1,070,000,000,000 lbs - of От пот роm раper a year. But have you ever wondered how your greasy, ketchup-stained Big Mac wrapper can actually end up as a Social Studies textbook? Here's how it works: 1. Paper is taken to a local collection station 2. Everything is separated and bundled based on composition Newsprint Cardboard Etc. 3. Bundles get sent to a recycling plant 4. The paper is tossed into a pulper, which is basically a giant blender with chemicals that dissolve paper fiber bonds while shredding it into tiny fibers 5. The watery fiber mixture, or "pulp,"passes through screens which filter out chunks of dirt and glue 6. Cleaning chemicals are stirred in to remove tiny dirt, oil and other contaminants, which are then siphoned off (dirt & sludge pipe) 7. The pulp is de-inked by sticking it in a chemical solution and blowing bubbles through it (the bubbles carry the ink off with them) 8. Then the pulp is bleached 9. It's then spread onto wide screens that let the water drain off 10. Long sheets of semi-dried pulp are then put through heated pressers, which apply enough pressure to turn them into smooth sheets of pape 11. Paper is rolled up into huge rolls (weighing as much as 3 tons each!) and sent onward for cutting, packaging, and shipping 12. Recyclers give high fives all around!* Recycled paper takes approximately 40-60% less energy to make than regular paper (according to the Energy Information Administration and the Bureau of International Recycling). Recycling One ton of recycled newspaper saves 4,000 Kilowatt Hours of electricity, which is enough to power the average U.S. home for 6 months. If we recycled all of the paper we used, we could save enough energy to power 25 million more American homes. by PrintingChoice.com *this doesn't technically happen every time Sources: tappi.org, howstuffworks Recycling How Paper Works Today about half of the paper in America gets recycled after it's been used. That's 53.5 million tons - or 1,070,000,000,000 lbs - of От пот роm раper a year. But have you ever wondered how your greasy, ketchup-stained Big Mac wrapper can actually end up as a Social Studies textbook? Here's how it works: 1. Paper is taken to a local collection station 2. Everything is separated and bundled based on composition Newsprint Cardboard Etc. 3. Bundles get sent to a recycling plant 4. The paper is tossed into a pulper, which is basically a giant blender with chemicals that dissolve paper fiber bonds while shredding it into tiny fibers 5. The watery fiber mixture, or "pulp,"passes through screens which filter out chunks of dirt and glue 6. Cleaning chemicals are stirred in to remove tiny dirt, oil and other contaminants, which are then siphoned off (dirt & sludge pipe) 7. The pulp is de-inked by sticking it in a chemical solution and blowing bubbles through it (the bubbles carry the ink off with them) 8. Then the pulp is bleached 9. It's then spread onto wide screens that let the water drain off 10. Long sheets of semi-dried pulp are then put through heated pressers, which apply enough pressure to turn them into smooth sheets of pape 11. Paper is rolled up into huge rolls (weighing as much as 3 tons each!) and sent onward for cutting, packaging, and shipping 12. Recyclers give high fives all around!* Recycled paper takes approximately 40-60% less energy to make than regular paper (according to the Energy Information Administration and the Bureau of International Recycling). Recycling One ton of recycled newspaper saves 4,000 Kilowatt Hours of electricity, which is enough to power the average U.S. home for 6 months. If we recycled all of the paper we used, we could save enough energy to power 25 million more American homes. by PrintingChoice.com *this doesn't technically happen every time Sources: tappi.org, howstuffworks Recycling How Paper Works Today about half of the paper in America gets recycled after it's been used. That's 53.5 million tons - or 1,070,000,000,000 lbs - of От пот роm раper a year. But have you ever wondered how your greasy, ketchup-stained Big Mac wrapper can actually end up as a Social Studies textbook? Here's how it works: 1. Paper is taken to a local collection station 2. Everything is separated and bundled based on composition Newsprint Cardboard Etc. 3. Bundles get sent to a recycling plant 4. The paper is tossed into a pulper, which is basically a giant blender with chemicals that dissolve paper fiber bonds while shredding it into tiny fibers 5. The watery fiber mixture, or "pulp,"passes through screens which filter out chunks of dirt and glue 6. Cleaning chemicals are stirred in to remove tiny dirt, oil and other contaminants, which are then siphoned off (dirt & sludge pipe) 7. The pulp is de-inked by sticking it in a chemical solution and blowing bubbles through it (the bubbles carry the ink off with them) 8. Then the pulp is bleached 9. It's then spread onto wide screens that let the water drain off 10. Long sheets of semi-dried pulp are then put through heated pressers, which apply enough pressure to turn them into smooth sheets of pape 11. Paper is rolled up into huge rolls (weighing as much as 3 tons each!) and sent onward for cutting, packaging, and shipping 12. Recyclers give high fives all around!* Recycled paper takes approximately 40-60% less energy to make than regular paper (according to the Energy Information Administration and the Bureau of International Recycling). Recycling One ton of recycled newspaper saves 4,000 Kilowatt Hours of electricity, which is enough to power the average U.S. home for 6 months. If we recycled all of the paper we used, we could save enough energy to power 25 million more American homes. by PrintingChoice.com *this doesn't technically happen every time Sources: tappi.org, howstuffworks Recycling How Paper Works Today about half of the paper in America gets recycled after it's been used. That's 53.5 million tons - or 1,070,000,000,000 lbs - of От пот роm раper a year. But have you ever wondered how your greasy, ketchup-stained Big Mac wrapper can actually end up as a Social Studies textbook? Here's how it works: 1. Paper is taken to a local collection station 2. Everything is separated and bundled based on composition Newsprint Cardboard Etc. 3. Bundles get sent to a recycling plant 4. The paper is tossed into a pulper, which is basically a giant blender with chemicals that dissolve paper fiber bonds while shredding it into tiny fibers 5. The watery fiber mixture, or "pulp,"passes through screens which filter out chunks of dirt and glue 6. Cleaning chemicals are stirred in to remove tiny dirt, oil and other contaminants, which are then siphoned off (dirt & sludge pipe) 7. The pulp is de-inked by sticking it in a chemical solution and blowing bubbles through it (the bubbles carry the ink off with them) 8. Then the pulp is bleached 9. It's then spread onto wide screens that let the water drain off 10. Long sheets of semi-dried pulp are then put through heated pressers, which apply enough pressure to turn them into smooth sheets of pape 11. Paper is rolled up into huge rolls (weighing as much as 3 tons each!) and sent onward for cutting, packaging, and shipping 12. Recyclers give high fives all around!* Recycled paper takes approximately 40-60% less energy to make than regular paper (according to the Energy Information Administration and the Bureau of International Recycling). Recycling One ton of recycled newspaper saves 4,000 Kilowatt Hours of electricity, which is enough to power the average U.S. home for 6 months. If we recycled all of the paper we used, we could save enough energy to power 25 million more American homes. by PrintingChoice.com *this doesn't technically happen every time Sources: tappi.org, howstuffworks Recycling How Paper Works Today about half of the paper in America gets recycled after it's been used. That's 53.5 million tons - or 1,070,000,000,000 lbs - of От пот роm раper a year. But have you ever wondered how your greasy, ketchup-stained Big Mac wrapper can actually end up as a Social Studies textbook? Here's how it works: 1. Paper is taken to a local collection station 2. Everything is separated and bundled based on composition Newsprint Cardboard Etc. 3. Bundles get sent to a recycling plant 4. The paper is tossed into a pulper, which is basically a giant blender with chemicals that dissolve paper fiber bonds while shredding it into tiny fibers 5. The watery fiber mixture, or "pulp,"passes through screens which filter out chunks of dirt and glue 6. Cleaning chemicals are stirred in to remove tiny dirt, oil and other contaminants, which are then siphoned off (dirt & sludge pipe) 7. The pulp is de-inked by sticking it in a chemical solution and blowing bubbles through it (the bubbles carry the ink off with them) 8. Then the pulp is bleached 9. It's then spread onto wide screens that let the water drain off 10. Long sheets of semi-dried pulp are then put through heated pressers, which apply enough pressure to turn them into smooth sheets of pape 11. Paper is rolled up into huge rolls (weighing as much as 3 tons each!) and sent onward for cutting, packaging, and shipping 12. Recyclers give high fives all around!* Recycled paper takes approximately 40-60% less energy to make than regular paper (according to the Energy Information Administration and the Bureau of International Recycling). Recycling One ton of recycled newspaper saves 4,000 Kilowatt Hours of electricity, which is enough to power the average U.S. home for 6 months. If we recycled all of the paper we used, we could save enough energy to power 25 million more American homes. by PrintingChoice.com *this doesn't technically happen every time Sources: tappi.org, howstuffworks Recycling How Paper Works Today about half of the paper in America gets recycled after it's been used. That's 53.5 million tons - or 1,070,000,000,000 lbs - of От пот роm раper a year. But have you ever wondered how your greasy, ketchup-stained Big Mac wrapper can actually end up as a Social Studies textbook? Here's how it works: 1. Paper is taken to a local collection station 2. Everything is separated and bundled based on composition Newsprint Cardboard Etc. 3. Bundles get sent to a recycling plant 4. The paper is tossed into a pulper, which is basically a giant blender with chemicals that dissolve paper fiber bonds while shredding it into tiny fibers 5. The watery fiber mixture, or "pulp,"passes through screens which filter out chunks of dirt and glue 6. Cleaning chemicals are stirred in to remove tiny dirt, oil and other contaminants, which are then siphoned off (dirt & sludge pipe) 7. The pulp is de-inked by sticking it in a chemical solution and blowing bubbles through it (the bubbles carry the ink off with them) 8. Then the pulp is bleached 9. It's then spread onto wide screens that let the water drain off 10. Long sheets of semi-dried pulp are then put through heated pressers, which apply enough pressure to turn them into smooth sheets of pape 11. Paper is rolled up into huge rolls (weighing as much as 3 tons each!) and sent onward for cutting, packaging, and shipping 12. Recyclers give high fives all around!* Recycled paper takes approximately 40-60% less energy to make than regular paper (according to the Energy Information Administration and the Bureau of International Recycling). Recycling One ton of recycled newspaper saves 4,000 Kilowatt Hours of electricity, which is enough to power the average U.S. home for 6 months. If we recycled all of the paper we used, we could save enough energy to power 25 million more American homes. by PrintingChoice.com *this doesn't technically happen every time Sources: tappi.org, howstuffworks