Paper Recovery and Recycling

The growth of our recycling business parallels the development of paper recycling in the United States. In 2007, the amount of paper recovered and reused in the United States climbed to an all-time high of 56 percent, and demand for recovered paper continues to grow.

We Collected 6.5 Million Tons of Paper in 2007

Since entering the paper recycling business in 1974, we've steadily increased how much paper we recover. Today, we are one of the world's largest recyclers of paper.

In 2007, we collected 6.5 million tons of paper, about 12 percent of the paper recovered in the United States—or enough to fill a train with 130,000 freight cars. Our paper and packaging mills rely on recycled paper for a significant portion of their raw material. We sell the remaining recovered paper to other mills around the world to make paper products with recycled content.

Also in 2007, we:

• Used 57 percent of the paper we collected to make new paper and paperboard products
• Made our products with 44 percent post-consumer recycled content* (measured as an average across all grades of paper and packaging). In one product line, containerboard, it averaged 50 percent. Our other product lines with recycled-content paper products are publishing papers, bags and newsprint.

Our success in paper recycling reflects a commitment to conserve natural resources and recognition that recovered paper is an important raw material in producing new paper and packaging products. Our use of recovered paper keeps it out of landfills and ensures we get the maximum value out of wood fiber.

Can all paper eventually be made from recovered paper? The answer is no.

Wood fiber gradually wears out, and a single fiber in a sheet of paper can be recycled only between four and 10 times. Beyond that limit, the fiber loses its strength and is no longer useful in making new paper. Papermakers must introduce a continuous stream of new fiber to replace fiber weakened through repeated recycling.

* Note: Percentage includes products produced in 2007 but does not include production from the assets included in the Domtar transaction.

Our Promotion Efforts Help Boost Recovery Rates

An ongoing challenge is to ensure that the supply of recovered paper—particularly high-quality office paper—is sufficient to meet future demand. Education and outreach are important parts of our effort to promote recycling and increase recovery rates. Weyerhaeuser works with partners ranging from local communities to large industries to encourage high rates of paper recovery.