The paper industry has been planting trees and manufacturing products made from renewable and recyclable fiber in the GLR for more than 100 years. Sustainable forestry practices and continued demand for forest products have contributed to the growth of forests across the U.S., and the nation has more trees today than it did on the first Earth Day in 1970. Ensuring forests are healthy and productive is critically important. Forests provide habitats for diverse species, remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and act as natural filters to protect fresh water supplies.
Papermaking is inherently circular. Paper mills use wood not only as a primary raw material, but the residual bark, pulping liquor, and wood fiber are used as a renewable energy source. Mills that use virgin wood fiber recycle pulping chemicals internally and reuse process water about 10 times on average before treating it and returning it to the environment. Paper mill byproducts also can be used as raw materials for nonpaper products, such as agricultural soil amendments and animal bedding.
Paper is one of the most recycled materials in the U.S., with recovery growing to an average of 68%, and packaging recovered from industrial, commercial, and residential consumers is recycled into new paper products. Paper mills in the GLR, including WestRock’s 100% recycled paperboard mills, are leading industry efforts to increase recovery further by recycling packaging that has not been widely recycled in the past—specifically paper cups and other foodservice packaging.
Historically, paper-based foodservice packaging, which includes items such as single-use cups, takeout cartons, and pizza boxes, has not been widely accepted in recycling programs owing to concerns over polymer coatings and food contamination. Paper cups, in particular, have not been widely accepted in recycling programs owing to concerns over the thin polyethylene lining that acts as a barrier to liquids. Many believed this lining could not be removed in a typical continuous pulping process, where operating conditions employ short dwell times and low temperatures, or at mills without an enhanced screening system to remove the liner.
Recent testing by WestRock has found that, in fact, the poly-lining does separate cleanly during typical pulping conditions and is removed by typical screening systems. Since there are low volumes of poly-lined paperboard on the market and available for recycling, this product can be mixed into existing streams, such as a residential mixed paper, and processed at paper mills without impacts to yield, the production process, or finished product quality. Mills that batch pulp aseptic and gable top cartons also are able to incorporate poly-lined foodservice packaging into its furnish.
The number of cities accepting cups and other foodservice packaging in residential recycling programs is growing. WestRock recycling facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky, began accepting foodservice packaging in its residential recycling collection in 2017. This packaging is then processed at the company’s paper mills into various new fiber-based packaging products, including cereal and tissue boxes. Today, in the GLR, many paper mills accept paper cups, milk cartons, and juice cartons in the recycled furnish they use. In the case of Sustana, recycled cups are used to make post-consumer bleached recycled pulp that can be incorporated into new paper cups. Sustana, WestRock, and Seda, a cup manufacturer also located in the GLR, have partnered with Starbucks to demonstrate how used cups can be recycled into new ones.
The paper industry in the GLR is doubling down on its commitment to recycling by accepting additional packaging types for processing. The industry is looking to partner with communities in the GLR to bring this the circular economy opportunity to scale.
WestRock is a multinational provider of paper and packaging solutions for consumer and corrugated packaging markets. It partners with its customers to provide differentiated paper and packaging solutions that help them win in the marketplace.
Location of paper mills that accept foodservice packaging in the GLR
