Paper Recycling

Paper is different from other waste produce because it comes from a sustainable resource: trees. Unlike the minerals and oil used to make plastics and metals, trees are replaceable. Paper is also biodegradable, so it does not pose as much threat to the environment when it is discarded. When 45 out of every 100 tonnes of wood fibre used to make paper in Australia comes from waste paper, the rest comes directly from virgin fibre from forests and plantations. By world standards this is a good performance since the world-wide average is 33% of waste paper. Governments have encouraged waster paper collection and sorting schemes and at the same time, the paper industry has responded by developing new recycling technologies that have paved the way for even greater utilisation of used fibre. As a result, industry’s use of recycled fibres is expected to increase at twice the rate of virgin fibre over the coming year.

Already waste paper constitutes 70% of paper used for packaging and advances in the technology required to remove ink from the paper have allowed a higher recycled content in newsprint and writing paper. To achieve the benefits recycling, the community must also contribute. We need to accept a change in the quality of paper products; For example stationary, may be less white and of a rougher texture. There also needs to be supported from the community for waste paper collection programs. Not only do we need to make the paper available to collectors but it also needs to be separated into different types and sorted from contaminants such as staples, paperclips, string and other miscellaneous items.

Complete the summary below of the reading passage. Choose ONE OR TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.

From the point of view of recycling, paper has two advantages over minerals and oil  in that firstly it comes from a resource which is 1 ___ and secondly it is less threatening to our environment when we throw it away because it is 2 ___.Although Australia’s  record in the re-use of waste paper is good, it is still necessary to use a  combination of recycled fibre and 3___  to make new paper. The paper industry has contributed positively and people have also been encouraged by 4___to collect their waste on a regular basis. One major difficulty is the removal of ink from used paper but 5___ are being made in this area. However, we need to learn to accept paper which is generally of a lower 6___than before and to sort our waste paper by removing 7___ before discarding it for collection.