Paper

What is paper made from?

Paper is made from cellulose fibre. This fibre can come from lots of things, but we mainly use wood. Other things that can be used include cotton, grasses, sugar cane, straw or waste paper.

Why recycle paper?

• Recycling paper means that less paper goes to landfill sites.

• Making paper from recycled paper uses less energy than producing it from
  virgin materials.

• Less polluting chemicals are used to produce recycled paper than new paper.

• Recycling paper does not save trees because most of the wood used comes from special forests but, these sort of forests can lead to loss of habitat for some animals.

What sort of paper can be recycled?

Many types of paper can be recycled, including computer paper, office paper, newspaper, magazines, phone books and cardboard.  

How is paper recycled?

When paper is recycled it is turned into pulp and chemicals are added to remove the ink from the pulp.  The pulp is then turned back into paper.

What can be made from recycled paper?

Lots of products can be made from recycled paper, the list below contains only a few of these items.
Toilet paper, Kitchen roll and Writing paper.

But first...Think before you throw.

Although recycling is important the first thing we should do is reduce the amount of paper that we use, there are lots of ways to do this:

• Reuse envelopes, cover the old address with labels.

• Newspaper can be used to cover tables for craft activities.

• Use both sides of a piece of paper.

We should also try to buy recycled paper whenever possible.