Increasing the amount of recycled fiber used within the paper production and consumption system has a multitude of proven environmental and social benefits and is a viable solution that is readily available in the marketplace. Given these verities, the Environmental Paper Network encourages manufacturers , purchasers , suppliers  and governments  to implement policies to support the continued use and maximization of recycled fiber.

The Benefits of Recycled Paper
Protecting Forests and Conserving Natural Resources
In many parts of the world, forests are disappearing in order to supply pulp for paper that is used once and discarded. In fact, paper makes up nearly 40% of the municipal solid waste stream. Producing paper from recovered paper instead of new trees is the most logical solution to this problem.

• It is estimated that each ton of 100% postconsumer recycled fiber that displaces a ton of virgin fiber saves between 12 and 24 trees (depending on grade and pulping process)
• It takes between 2.2 and 4.4 tons of raw wood fiber to produce one ton of virgin pulp and it takes1.4 tons of recovered paper for a ton of recycled pulp –a wood fiber savings of up to 310%

Energy, Water, and Resource Use
Science-based analyses has proven that the production of recycled paper conserves energy and water usage and is more resource efficient than the production of virgin fiber. See data from Environmental Defense and the Paper Task Force.

Supporting the Recycling Process
Approximately 40 % of the municipal waste stream is paper and paper products.

As demand for recycled fiber increases, the market for this fiber is sustained and grows—thereby providing an economic incentive for continued increased paper collection programs.