News detail

Breakdown - energy versus end of life

19 Apr 2010

In our post-Copenhagen world, the facts remain that digital media must become more sustainable to survive and co-exist with paper.

Every decision to communicate has some impact on the environment. For example, whether we email or send a letter, we consume energy and resources. There are environmental trade-offs in every choice we make and there is no simple answer.

But the paper and pulp industries have been addressing sustainability for decades and now adhere to many third party certification standards and government regulations.

Are they sustainable?
Paper
One of the best things about paper is that its primary raw material is renewable and truly sustainable with waste fully recoverable and ready for recycling into new paper.

Electronic
Making a computer typically requires the mining and refining of dozens of minerals and metals including gold, silver and palladium as well as the extensive use of plastics and hydrocarbon solvents. Its lifespan is also short and e-waste has become the fastest growing waste stream in the world.

Is it efficient?
Pulp and paper
This industry is one of the biggest users of renewable, low carbon energy in the world. Sadly Australia does not make much of its own paper and this is diminishing; however, 60% of the energy used to make paper in the US comes from carbon neutral renewable resources that are produced on site at the mill. Fossil fuel purchase of energy in this industry is decreasing quickly.

Electronic data centres
The electronics industry uses energy purchased from the grid made up of more than 90% heavy greenhouse gas emitting fossil fuels. The consumption rate for data centres in the US alone (only the servers that power the Internet) doubled from 2000–2006 and is set to double again by 2011. How do they break down?

Paper
Paper is a biodegradable substance that is also recyclable and reusable. In 2007 Australians recycled 3.032 million tonnes of paper and cardboard, equivalent to 72% of our consumption. More than 61% of the fibre used to make new paper products comes from recycled sources.

Electronic
The Australian Bureau of Statistics states that e-waste in Australia is currently growing at over three times the rate of general municipal waste. But only 4% of the nation's e-waste is recycled.

Toxic materials inside some common electronic goods in Australia include mercury, lead, arsenic, bromide, beryllium and cadmium. Nevertheless, e-waste isn't complicated to recycle as two-thirds of the cost is for collection and 99%of a computer can now be recycled.

Buried in landfill across Australia

37 million computers

56 million mobile phones

17 million TVs