Book recycling is becoming more and more common as companies and people are converting to computers. Whether it’s reading an e-book, an instruction manual, or looking up research material, you may not need these types of books as much as in the past. The push to eliminate paper waste is growing among many companies and people as they do there best to reduce the amount of paper waste. This is where book recycling comes into play.
In 2008, a record-high 57.4 percent of the paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) paper and paperboard products represent the largest portion of our municipal waste. Paper and paperboard products account for 33% of all the waste collected.
There are many of programs centered on recycling, but how do you find one that does book recycling? Many recycling programs may not even do book recycling; yet they charge a subscription fee or are heavily subsidized by tax money. In spite of this there are a handful of companies who currently do not charge any money for book recycling.
There are companies that take the extra time and resources to process these books and actually recycle them to be made back into paper. Why is it so difficult to recycle books? Hardbound books are hard to recycle because of their heavy glue content, vinyl and low fiber content; most unused or obsolete hardback books end up in the landfill. Under some cases, these books are recycled through mulching and becoming compost or insulation.
Listed below are a few familiar products that are made from recycled paper:
Masking tape
Dust masks
Bandages
Coffee filters
Lamp shades
Insulation
By recycling your damaged or obsolete books you can make a large environmental impact. Here are a few ways book recycling can help the environment: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saves considerable landfill space, reduces energy and water consumption, and decreases the need for disposal (i.e., landfill or incineration which decreases the amount of CO2 produced).