Cellulose, which is produced by processing trees and some grasses, is the raw material of paper. Pulp is obtained by mixing the cellulose material, most of which is obtained from trees, with water. Plates are formed from this pulp and paper production is completed after a few processes. The paper obtained with a very easy and simple process was found for the first time in China as a result of an archaeological excavation. With this study, which proves that paper started to be used even thousands of years ago, humanity has succeeded in obtaining concrete information about the history of paper. We encounter paper, which has been used in many areas from the past to the present, in many parts of our lives. Despite the developing technology, paper, which continues to be indispensable for writing and drawing processes, is also widely used in packaging, printing, cleaning and preservation processes. At the same time, paper has been used in some processes in some industrial factories recently. What are the effects of paper and paper production, which we encounter and need in many areas of our lives, on nature?
Effects of Paper Production on Nature
It is known that 70% of businesses in the world will go bankrupt within 3 weeks if they lose their paper documents during a disaster. In addition, 40% of the trees cut all over the world are cut for paper production. When all these are taken into consideration, the importance of paper in our lives and in businesses around the world emerges. As a matter of fact, the most important need of paper production, which is cellulose obtained from trees, has a great impact on nature. In addition to the fact that the paper industry is one of the areas that use the most water per unit, paper production is one of the leading sectors that pollute the environment due to the fact that it leaves waste water to the nature and the difficult and slow decomposition of pollutants in wastewater.
Especially if the paper production is located in a location close to the city or residential areas, the rate of this damage to the environment also increases. Environmental pollution caused by the paper industry varies according to the raw materials used during paper production, additional additives and the power of the production potential. Among the biggest effects of paper production on the environment are the amount of water used and the discharge of waste water instead of the water taken for this use. Even in the most modern facilities, 30-50 m3/ton of water is used. In addition, 1.5 m3 of water vapor is emitted during the production of 1 ton of paper, which is a large rate. In addition to all these, the first thing that comes to mind about paper production and its effects on nature is the cutting and use of trees to obtain the raw material of paper. A tree needed for paper production must be at least 20 years old. Due to the fact that only certain types of trees are prone to use, the sparseness of these tree species is one of the effects of paper products on the environment.
Environmental Approaches in Paper Production
Due to the ever-decreasing forests and sparse vegetation, paper production companies (eg Çağdaş Kağıt) have started to use some environmentally friendly methods. One of the most used methods among these methods is to produce paper by recycling method. The recycling method, which is a method of obtaining a new paper from used and waste paper, consumes less energy and reduces the damage and impact on nature. And most importantly, paper production with recycling is necessary for us to protect the ecological balance and it has been used frequently recently.