The Recycle for Cornwall campaign has been developed to raise public awareness of recycling and to provide consumers with a compelling reason to recycle.
Paper in its roughest form was first produced by the Egyptians over 5000 years ago, but paper as we know it today was first created by the Chinese over 2500 years ago. Since then, over the centuries, paper making skills have travelled west and reached Europe in the mid 1400’s.
Today about 28% of what we throw away is paper or cardboard, this represents 6 trees worth of paper and card each year for the average family! Recycling paper uses less energy and water than making paper from trees and helps to reduce the impact on ancient woodlands which are sometimes chopped down and replaced with managed forests, which are known to support less biodiversity.
How is our paper recycled?
Bales of paper that have been sorted in Cornwall are sent to a paper mill in Kent called Aylesford Newsprint where they are put into giant machines called pulpers.
The paper is mixed with water and chemicals to break down its fibres. The ink, staples, glue and plastic are removed from the paper by washing it. Magazines in the mix help this process as they contain clay that helps to lift the ink during washing. The paper, which is called ‘pulp’ at this stage, is thickened and goes onto a paper making machine.
The pulp is pressed and heated so that it dries out and then put on a roll to be made back into paper. At Aylesford Press the paper moves at about 60 miles per hour as it is put onto jumbo reels and each giant reel of paper weighs about 300 tonnes!
When the old newsprint has been made back into clean paper it is taken to a publisher who prints the paper with new news and then sends it back to shops as new newspapers.
Newspaper collected in Cornwall can be back on the shelf as a new newspaper within two weeks of being put out for recycling!
How is cardboard recycled?
Just like paper the bales of cardboard are sorted and sent to a paper mill, where they are put into pulpers. In the pulper, water and chemicals are added to make a soggy, mushy pulp. The pulp is cleaned, de-inked and then dried into flat rolls.
The large rolls of new recycled cardboard are cut into smaller size rolls ready to be made into new boxes, containers and packaging.
In Cornwall we also recycle cardboard by shredding it and turning it into animal bedding called Shreddybed.
