Office Paper.

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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 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 can be produced in a variety of colors. Most office paper is made from chemically pulped paper fiber.

Office paper is a sub-category of the paper industry's "printing and writing" category, which also includes books, junk mail, brochures and similar products.

Since 1960, office paper generation increased by 4.5 million tons, or 300 percent, and its MSW market share increased by 41 percent. However, office paper generation has declined by 1.4 million tons in the last six years, as the use of personal computers has spread. Office paper recycling has increased by 4.1 million tons and the recycling rate has more than quadrupled since 1960.

This profile concentrates on office paper, 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. E-mail him at: cmiller@envasns.org.

SOURCES:

American Forest and Paper Association, www.afandpa.org

"Measurement Standards and Reporting Guidelines," National Recycling Coalition, www.nrc-recycle.org

"Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 1998 Update" and "Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2007 Facts and Figures," U.S. EPA, Office of Solid Waste, 2008, www.epa.gov/osw

Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management

Scrap Specifications Circular 2008, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Washington, D.C., www.isri.org

Data is from 2007 EPA estimates, except where noted.

OFFICE PAPER MSWFACTS

Generated:

6.0 million tons, or 2.4% by weight.

39.78 pounds per person per year.

28.1 million tons of printing and writing paper in 2008 (industry data).

186.3 pounds of printing and writing paper per person (industry data).

Recycled:

4.31 million tons, or a 71.8% recycling rate.

15.9 million tons of printing and writing paper, or 56.8% in 2008 (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:

1.69 million tons, or 1.0% of discarded MSW by weight.

7,200 Btus per pound (4,500 Btus to 5,000 Btus in a pound of MSW).

Landfill Volume:

8.67 million cubic yards or 2.1% of landfilled MSW in 1997.

Density:

Landfilled office paper weighs 800 pounds per cubic yard (lbs/cu.yd.).

Unbaled office paper weighs 375 to 465 lbs/cu.yd.

Baled office paper weighs 700 to 750 lbs/cu.yd.

Source Reduction:

Double-sided copying, e-mail, extensive use of on-line systems.

Recycling Markets:

Exports, tissue mills, recycled paperboard and printing and writing paper are the primary markets.

End Market Specifications:

ISRI guidelines for paperstock include grades 42, computer printout; 40, sorted white ledger; 37, sorted office paper; and 36, unsorted office paper.

Each mill has its own requirements.

High value end markets are the most restrictive.

Consult carefully with purchasers before selling.

Source Citation
"Office Paper." Waste Age 40.10 (2009). InfoTrac Vocation, Careers & Technical Education eCollection. Web. 17 Jan. 2010. .

Gale Document Number:A210086028