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Office Paper
3 Min Read
OFFICE PAPER IS A generic name given to a wide variety of paper products used in offices and businesses, including writing, computer and copying paper. These grades usually have longer fibers and are brighter than newspaper and packaging grades. Office wastepaper also includes newspapers, corrugated boxes and paperboard packaging, which are not included in this profile.
Office paper is usually white, but it can be produced in a variety of colors. Most office paper is made from chemically pulped paper fiber.
Office paper is a subcategory of the paper industry's “printing and writing” category, which also includes book and magazine paper, junk mail and brochures. Since 1960, office paper generation increased by 6.1 million tons, or 395 percent, and its MSW market share almost doubled. In the same time, office paper recycling increased by 3.86 million tons, and the recycling rate tripled.
This profile concentrates on office paper because it is the most commonly recycled portion of the printing and writing paper category.
Chaz Miller is state programs director for the National Solid Wastes Management Association, Washington, D.C. E-mail the author at: [email protected]
Office Paper Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Facts:
Generated:
7.42 million tons or 3.2% by weight.*
52.1 pounds (lbs.) per person.*
30.8 million tons of printing and writing paper (industry data).
216 lbs. of printing and writing paper per person (industry data).
Recycled:
4.1 million tons or 55.3%.*
11.5 million tons of printing and writing paper or 37.3% in 2002 (industry data).
Recycled Content:
0% to 100%, depending on a paper mill's ability to use recycled office paper.
Composted:
Compostable if shredded properly.
Low nitrogen content and lack of physical structure are inhibiting factors.
Incinerated or Landfilled:
3.32 million tons or 2.1% of discarded MSW by weight.*
7,200 Btus per lb. (4,500 Btus to 5,000 Btus in 1 lb. of MSW).
Landfill Volume:
8.67 million cubic yards (cu. yds.) or 2.1% of landfilled MSW in 1997.
Density
Landfilled weighs 800 pounds per cubic yard (lbs./cu. yd.)
Unbaled weighs 375 lbs./cu. yd. to 465 lbs./cu. yd.
Baled weighs 700 lbs./cu. yd. to 750 lbs./cu. yd.
Source-Reduction:
Double-sided copying, e-mail, extensive use of online systems.
Recycling Markets:
One-third is exported; tissue mills get one-fourth; and recycled paperboard and printing and writing paper are the next largest markets.
End-Market Specifications:
ISRI guidelines for paperstock include grades 42, computer printout; 40, sorted white ledger; 37, sorted office paper; 2, mixed paper; and 1 soft mixed paper.
Each mill has its own wastepaper requirements.
High-value end-markets are the most restrictive.
Consult carefully with purchasers before delivering office paper to a market.
Sources:
American Forest and Paper Association, www.afandpa.org
“Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 1998 Update,” U.S. EPA, Office of Solid Waste, 1999
“Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2001 Facts and Figures,” EPA, Office of Solid Waste, 2004 www.epa.gov/osw
“Measurement Standards and Reporting Guidelines”, National Recycling Coalition,” Washington, D.C., www.nrcrecycle.org
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Providence, R.I.
“Scrap Specifications Circular 2004,” Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
Washington, D.C., www.isri.org
*2001 EPA estimates.
About the Author
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