MYTH: You should only use recycled paper.

FACT: Paper made from sustainable forests is best.

Paper made from sustainable forests is needed to start the paper cycle

The papermaking process is a sustainable cycle. Recycled fibres are used as effectively as possible, while new fibres are constantly brought in to replenish and maintain the process.

Recycled paper can be used in some grades more than others. For example, newsprint and some types of packaging are often made with 100% recycled fibre.

High-grade graphic papers, however, have a lower utilisation rate, around 13%, but when recycled, inject the cycle with virgin fibres.

• 72% of Australia’s native forest area is comprised of areas that are completely bounded by forest
• A total of 68% of Australia’s native forest is in patches of over 100 thousand hectares.
• A total stock of 21,949 Mt C (million tonnes of carbon) was stored in Australia’s at the end of June 2016. Of this forest carbon store:
• 85% was stored in non-production native forests, 14% in production native forests and 1.2% in plantations
• 36% was in above-ground biomass and 64% was in belowground

Australia’s State of the Forests Report,2018