Recycling reduces demand for virgin wood fiber. The size of the impact is difficult to estimate and will vary by region and product type.
It will always be necessary to harvest trees to provide new (virgin) fiber to the fiber supply. New fibers find their way into the recycled paper stream, improving the quality of recycled fiber. In addition, it is impossible to recycle 100% of the paper that is used so a certain amount of virgin fiber will always be required.
Reduced demand for virgin fiber does not translate directly into reduced pressures on forests. In the case of private forest land, the harvesting of trees to meet demand for forest products provides income to landowners that helps reduce the incentives to convert forestland to other uses. Pressures to convert forests to non-forest uses may increase if the market for wood fiber declines Therefore, if one is concerned about keeping land in forest rather than wood use per se, activities that reduce the demand for virgin fiber can actually cause detrimental effects.
How should I use this information?
Follow this link for more information:
Demand for virgin wood fiber
