How many of the world's trees are used to make paper?

You may be surprised to learn that less than one-sixth of the wood harvested throughout the world each year is used to make paper, and much of this wood actually comes from the "leftovers" from sawmill operations.

Over half of the wood harvested in the world is used for fuel, mostly for cooking and home heating. In developing countries, as much as 80% of the local wood is used for these purposes.

In the United States, recycled paper and paperboard, along with residue from forest and sawmill operations, provide roughly two-thirds of all the fiber used in pulp and paper mills. The remaining one-third comes from round wood (whole tree trunks). Much of this wood is grown and harvested on plantations called tree farms, which are actually forests created specifically to produce raw material for wood and paper products.

Trees which are dying from factors such as old age, disease, insects, or forest fires are also used in papermaking. Foresters must remove these trees to improve the health of the forest, and using them for wood pulp makes good economic sense.

Some 1.5 billion seedlings are planted in the United States each year by the forest community. That's an average of more than 4 million new trees planted every day! Millions more regenerate naturally every year.