I was listening to a radio piece this morning about a problem with kerbside recycling of paper. (It applies to some other recycled wastes too, but it's paper and cardboard I'm addressing here.)
First of all is the fact that most of the collected waste for recycling in Ireland goes to China. Transport = greenhouse gasses.
Secondly, the price obtained by recyclers for paper as a raw material for paper mills has dropped such that it is no longer as economically viable to collect the paper and ship it to China. And yet making recycled paper is 80% more efficient than making paper from wood pulp.
There is also the possibility of using the paper as a form of fuel.
So my question is, which is better for the environment (specifically from a greenhouse gas point of view)- curbside recycling of paper and cardboard, or composting it at home?
Most of the worm forums agree that torn up corrugated cardboard is the bedding of choice for home wormeries, and newspaper isn't bad either. But would it be better to recycle it? Is the energy used in transporting it to china sufficiently compensated for by the amount of energy saved by recycling paper rather than making it from pulp. And what about the trees saved? A mature, or 'ancient plantation' tree stores a lot more carbon than the saplings planted to replace it in 'renewable resource forestry'.
And what if the paper is burned as a fuel?
And if the compost generated in the garden is used to reduce the use of fuel intensive fertilisers? And used to grow home grown veggies to reduce food miles?
Has anyone done the maths? Is it possible to do the maths?
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