Impact Statement

In 53 different countries around the world there are 42 million free newspapers being printed every day. The environmental impact of a product that has a designed life span of 20 minutes is being seriously overlooked. The proliferation of free newspapers continues to escalate the impact on the environment is fast becoming a major concern to many environmentalists. Over 44 million editions are being produced every day worldwide; it takes 12 established trees to make one ton of newsprint, which is enough to print 14,000 editions of an average-size tabloid. That means a daily usage of newsprint of a little over 3142 tons. Which, in turn, means the felling of 37,714 trees? On average around 70 per cent of paper used by the newspaper industry is claimed to be recycled. So after recycled paper usage, over 11,314 trees are being felled on a daily basis to feed the free print presses in over 58 countries. Although the increased use of recycled paper is welcomed by many, the extensive bleaching (especially use of chlorine) and other chemical processes to make reclaimed paper blank again for reuse are not lessening the concerns of environmentalists.

Industrialized nations, with 20 percent of the world’s population, consume 87 percent of the world’s printing and writing papers. The United States produced and uses 1/3 of the world’s paper. The average per capita paper use in the USA in 2001 was 700 pounds (318 kg). The average per capita paper use worldwide was 110 pounds (50 kg). The global consumption of paper has increased 20 fold over the last century and has tripled in the last 30 years alone.

Today, 90% of paper pulp is made of wood. Paper production accounts for about 35% of felled trees Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 16% of world pulp production, old growth forests 9% and second- and third- and more generation forests account for the balance.