Recycling at Paper Mills: The Benefits of Water-Based Barrier Coatings, Paper360º January/February 2021

For paper, recycling has higher priority over composting in the Sustainability Pyramid and the Circular Economy. This is because it guarantees that paper’s valuable fibers will be reclaimed for reuse. However, even though paper fibers can be recycled many times (up to 25 times, depending on the type of fiber and end-use), fiber degradation is a concern, as fibers tend to become shorter and weaker after multiple rounds of recycling. Because of this, fibers are sorted before processing. Screened-out fiber or waste can be incinerated at end of life for energy recovery, e.g., combustion for steam and electrical energy production, with carbon neutral emissions.

Composting offers no reuse of valuable fibers and no recovery of energy. It is “cold incineration” without utilizing or recovering the entrapped energy; it can also lead to the production of methane. Furthermore, there is no way for foreign substances to be screened out efficiently. Thus, materials such as metal, plastic, process chemicals, functional chemicals, and microplastics can be released into the environment if the compost is used as fertilizer or soil improver. Composting is only a viable alternative to recycling in cases when it is difficult to recycle, such as an item heavily contaminated with food. Composting should be viewed as an opportunity to divert food waste from landfills.

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