Puzzling Paper Facts

• The first paper was produced from rags in AD 105 by Ts'ai Luin, part of the Eastern Han Court of the Chinese Emperor Ho Ti.
• We use 12.5 million tonnes of paper and cardboard every year in the UK.
• One tonne of paper made from recycled pulp saves 17 trees.
• The average British family throws away 6 trees worth of paper in their household bin in a year.
• Over a million tonnes of newspapers are thrown away every year in the UK.
• On average every person in the UK gets through 38kg of newspapers a year.
• The UK uses a forest the size of Wales every year in paper.

How is Paper Recycled?

• All of your used newspapers, comics and magazines are collected from paper banks and your kerbside collection boxes and are transported to a recycling plant.
• At the recycling plant, all inks, glues, staples, plastic film etc. are washed off the paper fibres and the wet mushy paper is called pulp.
• Cleaned paper pulp is sent to a paper-making machine where the pulp is then injected between two wire meshes to form a damp paper sheet. This is dried to form the new recycled paper.
• The dried paper is polished and rolls onto jumbo reels, each one about 30 tonnes in weight. The paper reels are then cut into smaller sizes to be sold.
• The paper is then used for national and local newspapers throughout the UK and Europe. Newspapers and magazines will be back in your newsagents or through your door, within three to four weeks.