• Paper is an indispensable part of our civilisation.
• Paper is made from renewable raw materials.
• Recycling spares resources.

Whether we use too much paper is a matter of opinion. Without paper, however, our life today would be difficult to conceive. We read newspapers, magazines and books, we expect goods to be properly packed, and we need paper for our daily hygiene. Moreover, we only see a part of the theoretical annual per capita paper consumption (250 kg in Germany in 2008). We don’t see industrial and commercial transport packing, or the files and documents in offices, not to mention the special papers that are used in vehicle manufacture, for wine filtering or for medical applications, for example.

Unlike other materials, paper is not made from finite resources but from materials that grow again. Sustainable forest management will ensure that it remains so.

Recycling plays an important role in the sustainability of the paper cycle. The reuse of processed raw materials cuts down on energy, wood fibres and waste water treatment. Some paper manufacturers document this through the Blue Angel symbol as indication of environmentally friendly production.

The proportion of recovered paper, i.e. the amount used per ton of newly produced paper, is already over 60 per cent in the European Union as a whole and 68 per cent in Germany. In other words, for every 100 kg of paper made in Germany an average of 68 kg is made of recovered paper.