Why use wood at all? Why can't we make all the paper we need by recycling?

This is a good question. We do recycle a lot of paper. In fact, about 45 percent of the paper used in the U.S. is recycled back into new paper and paperboard products. However, the world's demand for paper is simply too great to rely on recovered paper as the industry's only fiber source. Wood and other materials must be used to supply the remaining fiber.

Wood fibers can only be recycled five to seven times before they become too short and "worn out" to be made into paper again. New wood fiber is needed to replace the unusable recycled fiber that washes out of the pulp during the recycling process.

Of course, we could never recycle 100 percent of the paper we use. Much of it is soiled with food or other contaminants. And a lot of paper is stored permanently in the form of books and documents.

What's the difference between pre-consumer and post-consumer recovered paper?

Pre-consumer recovered paper consists of trimmings and scraps from printing, carton manufacturing, and other converting processes that are re-processed in the mill without reaching the final consumer.

Post-consumer recovered paper (like old corrugated boxes, newspapers, magazines, and office paper), already has been used by the ultimate consumer, and is then returned to the mill for recycling.

Although some papers contain 100 percent recycled fiber, papermakers will often combine various amounts of recycled fiber with new fiber to produce paper of the desired grade and quality.