RE: [greenyes] recycling of recycled paper products

["Reindl, John" <Reindl@no.address>]

Debbie ~

The question of how many times recycled paper can be recycled is a "red
herring" question in my mind. 

What happens in the recycling process is that some fibers break and when
they become very short, end up in the wastewater stream, rather than in new
paper. Depending on the paper mill, these fibers may be benefically applied
to the land, made into kitty litter or other products, or landfilled.

While years ago, people talked about that the fibers could be reused 7
times, research by the US Forest Products Institute says that the number of
times can be much longer.

On a practical basis, if you have sheet of paper that is of a recyclable
grade (newsprint, corrugated cardboard, a magazine, printing paper, etc), it
can be recycled, regardless of how many times the individual fibers within
that paper have already been recycled. 

Best wishes,

John Reindl, Recycling Manager
Dane County, WI 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Deborah Rubin Fields [mailto:write_debbie@no.address]
> Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 2:15 AM
> To: greenyes@no.address
> Subject: [greenyes] recycling of recycled paper products 
> 
> 
> I am interested in knowing how many times recycled paper products may 
> successfully be recycled.  Also, what factors -- besides economic 
> feasabiltiy -- are there to consider in the repeated 
> recycling of paper 
> goods?
> Thanking you in advance for your thoughts on the matter.
> Debbie Rubin Fields
>