The corrugated cardboard He has a lot of lives. It can return to our hands, over and over again, in the form of new packaging. Every time we put him in a blue container, we're giving him another chance.
The recovery and recycling of used paper and paperboard prolongs the service life of cellulose fibres, preventing them from ending up in landfills.
And paper that does not enter the recycling circuit (because it is contaminated and not suitable as raw material) can be used as fuel, as can the residual biomass of the manufacturing process. This closes and balances a whole cycle of resource use: the sustainable cycle of paper, which starts from a renewable and natural source of raw material.
Spain's paper industry guarantees the recycling of all paper and cardboard that is recovered. Already, 74.4% of the paper and cardboard consumed is recovered for recycling. The utilisation rate stands at 80.6% and the recycling rate at 73.9%. These figures place us in the “70% club”, made up of the countries that recycle the most worldwide: Ireland (90%), Norway (85%), Switzerland (83%), the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (78%), Germany (77%), Japan (73%), Sweden (72%) and Austria (70%).
In total, 4.6 million tons of paper and used cardboard per year, representing a volume saving in landfill equivalent to more than 45 large football stadiums such as Bernabéu or Camp Nou filled to the top and avoiding dumping of 4.1 million tons of CO2 (more than 1% of the total emissions produced by the country).
Citizen collaboration in recovery and recycling is essential. Separating used paper and depositing it in blue containers is the greatest contribution to responsible paper consumption that citizens can make. Of the 133 kilos of paper that we use annually per inhabitant, 99 kilos are recovered and sent to the paper mills where they are recycled.
A good endowment of containers for paper and paperboard of households, properly distributed and located, with a collection frequency adapted to the needs of the user, is the fundamental pillar of the municipal selective collection of paper and cardboard in local entities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. The volume of recycled matter is already 29 kg. per inhabitant, according to the Big Cities Report, prepared by RECIPAP.
If we add the specific collection systems for other sources of used paper and cardboard (small shops, offices, schools, hospitality businesses, markets, industrial estates, universities, beaches…), which prevent bins intended for household paper and cardboard from overflowing, we can understand this success. Nor should we forget awareness campaigns and regular information on results, because nothing motivates citizens more than knowing their efforts produce positive results.
