Conventional paper production has significant and wide-ranging environmental impacts. As paper is a relatively cheap commodity with a highly mechanised production process, disposable paper is produced and consumed at very high rates worldwide, leading to large quantities of paper waste. These production processes and the waste generated from them have numerous environmental impacts. Paper production contributed 20% of the 690 million pounds of toxic waste released by industry into the air in the USA in 2015. Paper production also produces significant amounts of wastewater containing dissolved organic matter and nutrients that contribute to eutrophication, as well as heavy metal compounds like lead that are highly toxic. In Canada, paper production is the third largest source of aquatic lead emissions, highlighting the scale of this issue. Discarded paper and paperboards also account for 26% of the solid municipal waste generated in the USA that ends up in landfill each year. The use of chlorine in paper bleaching is also a significant issue due to the high toxicity of chlorine compounds. However, the use of chlorine has now largely been replaced with non-chlorine based bleaching techniques.
Alternatives and more sustainable production processes are constantly being investigated in order to alleviate the impact on the environment. Using and recycling paper can mitigate many of the impacts of paper disposal, but recycling paper has its own environmental and economic impacts and still consumes significant amounts of energy. There are some forms of paper made from unconventional sources that are more sustainable than conventional wood-pulp based paper. One such source is the lokta bush. The term lokta refers to two species of the Daphne genus of bushes that grow in southern Asia from Pakistan through to China. In Nepal, these bushes are harvested sustainably to produce lokta paper, or Nepali Kagaj, in a traditional handicraft process that has been in use for over a thousand years. These bushes are naturally abundant and grow very well in the Nepali Himalayan forests that are between 1600-4000m above sea level. The bark is first harvested before the bark is processed into paper pulp and is then produced into finished paper. This process is substantially better for the environment than conventional paper production as it utilises a naturally growing and underutilised plant native to Nepal, and harvested lokta bushes will automatically regenerate into 4-5m high bushes within 5-7 years. In addition, lokta paper production offers employment opportunities to rural women in Nepal and has considerable economic benefits for them due to its niche, high-quality market potential with an annual growth rate of 15%.
Swedish 100% Fair Trade design company Afroart use lokta paper in their range of cards, notebooks, garlands and Christmas decorations. The products are completely made by hand in Nepal from the bark of the Lokta bush and the production creates important job opportunities in the region. All products are made Fair Trade, which means that the producers are affiliated with the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). View the Afroart collection here: https://www.kvallsbris.co.uk/#/afroart-1
Sources:
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-11/documents/2014_smmfactsheet_508.pdf
Afroart Lokta Paper Garland “Vika” in production.