1. November 2013 RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL PAPER WASTE Ryan Skaria, Islam El Manyaka-Fiky, Benjamin Ogonek, Nijat Asadli

2. Agenda How our paper is produced 1 Overview of the problem Potential solutions Quantifying our paper waste

3. Overview of the issue 2 This presentation will look at our everyday consumption of paper at the residential and commercial levels To do this, we must first see how the US Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) defines and characterizes paper waste Paper is a non-hazardous waste, and thus falls under the definition of Municipal Solid Waste (“MSW”) Essentially, this is what we refer to as trash or garbage; everyday items we use and throw away: –Product packaging –Bottles –Food scraps –Newspapers –Appliances –Paper This type of standard waste generally comes from our homes, businesses, schools, hospitals etc.

4. Over the past decade total MSW waste levels have levelled off, while per capita waste have shown a downward trend Source: EPA MSW Report 2011 MSW Generation Rates 3 Total MSW Generation (mm tons) Per Capita Generation (lbs/person/day)

5. How much paper do we consume? Source: EPA MSW Report 2011 Paper Waste in Perspective 4 Total MSW Generation Breakdown, 2011Total MSW Recovery, 2011 28% 52.8% Paper makes up 28% of what Americans throw away, more than any other material on an everyday basis This amounts to 70.1 million tons per year Or 1.2 pounds per day, 449.7 pounds per year –An additional note: A year’s worth of New York Times newspaper weighs 520 pounds alone –This equates to the weight of two bull sharks, or two wild boars A standard letter-sized paper is 1/100 lb, meaning the average American consumes 50,000 sheets of paper per year! However, paper recycling has been going on since mid 19 th century Europe saw an increased demand for books, and today represents an organized and mature industry We can see this below, where ~50% of all recycled garbage is paper

6. How recycling helps – the numbers Overview On the residential side, the primary products we consume are magazines, newspapers, printing paper, and textbooks or books The commercial side is much more intensive in consumption The American financial industry alone produces 730 pounds of paper per employee a year 1 ton of recycled paper saves around 17 trees This is equivalent to 2,200 pounds of paper, or 3-4 years worth of consumption That means we each cut down almost 5 trees per year! Source: EPA Municipal Solid Waste Report 2011, iD2 Communications Report 2010 5 Job creation Average paper usage 75 jobs to manufacture newsprint 30 jobs to collect paper 40 jobs to process the paper Every 15,000 tons of recycled newsprint creates… The average American uses around 465 trees to create a lifetime of paper… New York California … Enough to create a 12 foot high wall of paper across the country

7. Agenda How our paper is produced 6 Overview of the problem Potential solutions Quantifying our paper waste

8. Where our paper comes from, and how it pollutes What goes into making a virgin ton of paper? 7 This produces: 84 pounds of air pollutants 36 pounds of water pollutants 176 pounds of solid waste Lime, Salt Cake, Soda Ash (~600 lbs.) Water (24,000 gallons) Wood (3,88 lbs.) A Typical Pulp And Paper Mill Upstream Initiatives To Reduce Pollution Bleaching This is the process which turns raw paper into the standard white color we are used to seeing A move to creating totally chlorine free (“TFC”) paper has helped reduce water pollutants Mechanical Pulp This is the type of pulp used to produce newspapers The process of creating mechanical pulp does not bleach the end product, creating significantly less toxic chemicals

9. Agenda How our paper is produced 8 Overview of the problem Potential solutions Quantifying our paper waste

10. Quantifying our own impact To quantify our own impact, we created a measured average estimate using our four group members as a sample of the average student We then measured our consumption over a one month estimated period Purpose of UsageNumber of Sheets Used Number of Times Per Month Total Sheets Used Midterm/Quiz Revision15575 Research Reports for Projects2800.2570 Textbooks20000.25500 Delivery Packaging603180 Magazines305150 Newspapers2630780 Junk mail501 Total1,805 Note: Delivery packaging uses cardboard, which is generally estimated to equal 10 sheets of waste paper equivalent, so the sides of each package were multiplied by a factor of four. i.e.. 6 sides to a package, multiplied by 10 equals 60 sheets of waste paper equivalent A 500 sheet package of paper weighs around 5 pounds So 1,805 sheets x 12 = 21,660 sheets of paper per year, divided by 500 = 43.3 packages of paper per year, or 216.6 pounds per year This is significantly below the average US per capita consumption of 500 pounds per year We attribute this discrepancy to the heavy weight that commercial business consumption likely has on total consumption Commentary

11. Quantifying our own impact (cont’d) The next step was to figure out how our consumption was personally impacting the environment To do this, we figured out our pounds used per annum and applied the numbers to an advanced waste calculator on www.cenvironmentalpaper.org Purpose of UsagePounds Used (p.a.) Paper GradeGreenhouse Gases (lbs. CO 2 equiv.) Water Consumption (gallons) Sold Waste (pounds) Junk Mail6.5 Coated groundwood 19647 Midterm/Quiz Revision8.7 Uncoated freesheet 24998 Research Reports for Projects8.7 Uncoated freesheet 24998 Magazines17.3 Coated groundwood 5116919 Delivery Packaging21.6Paperboard6621820 Textbooks60.6Coated freesheet17261767 Newspapers93.1 Uncoated groundwood 29383688 Total216.66492,102217 Note: Pounds used calculated by multiplying our percentage usage by our total usage

12. Overview: our consumption in relative terms To put our consumption in relative terms, in one year we consume… A wild boar’s worth of paper, which amounts to… 22 three-month old babies worth of solid waste Six and a half sea turtles of greenhouse gases (lbs CO2 equiv.) And 33,632 cups of water

13. Agenda How our paper is produced 12 Overview of the problem Potential solutions Quantifying our paper waste

14. How can we reduce our consumption? Note: Delivery packaging uses cardboard, which is generally estimated to equal 10 sheets of waste paper equivalent, so the sides of each package were multiplied by a factor of four. i.e.. 6 sides to a package, multiplied by 10 equals 60 sheets of waste paper equivalent Going Online – Tablets An idea that immediately sprung to mind for us were the advent of the tablet and smartphone industries Reading on computer screens is difficult for some people, however Amazon’s Kindle uses an E Ink electronic paper display, making the reading experience much more akin to reading a book The Kindle, starting at US$69, has the potential to create a huge reduction in our paper usage Mobile Subscriptions Registering for online subscriptions and opting out of physical newspaper deliveries Generally, the development of newspaper apps has created a more fluid and comfortable reading experience In terms of cost, mobile subscriptions are generally cheaper NYTimes Print: US$8.75/month NYTimes Online: US$3.75/month Resale of Textbooks Something we mostly do already due to the high initial cost Recycling Programs Several recycling programs exist wherein you can personally recycle mail The USPS has developed a program wherein “mixed paper” (ie. Mail) can be deposited at Post Office locations for recycling Initiatives to reduce our personal usage

15. How can we reduce our consumption? (cont’d) Case Study: Junk Mail Over 100 billion pieces of junk mail are produced each year Around 30% of all mail delivered globally Each US household received 848 pieces of junk mail per year, which required 6.5 million tons of paper to produce This takes more than 100 million trees to produce Or the equivalent of clear-cutting the entire Rocky Mountain National Park every four months! 14 Incentives to Reduce Junk Mail Greenhouse Gas Emissions Taxes The government could impose a tax on outgoing mail to unregistered recipients, thus making it more expensive for businesses to send out junk mail Email Initiatives to encourage advertisers to switch to email could also reduce the impact of physical junk mail 6.5 million tons of paper used to create junk mail… …Equal to lbs CO2 emissions equivalent to 3.7 million cars per year