---

Waste Not, Want Not

Every part of a tree is used when it reaches the mill. The process begins with debarking. Bark is used for fuel and soil mulch.

Next, the round sides, called slabs, go through a chipper. As the cutting process continues, other parts also go to the chipper, including edgings, trim ends, and other portions of the log that are unusable as lumber. Wood chips can be made into chipboard and particleboard, or ground into pulp and manufactured into large rolls. The large rolls are then converted into smaller rolls and sheets for cardboard, brown paper, or commercial printing, depending upon the type of wood pulp available.

The outer parts of the log don't have many knots, so they usually are made into boards or planks. The more knotty center portions are usually cut into heavier planks and square or rectangular beams.

Plywood is made of veneer, produced by holding a long blade against a rotating log to peel off thin sheets. These sheets are then joined by glue and usually laid with the grain of adjoining plies at right angles.

And don't forget about recycling. Millions of tons of paper, including used corrugated boxes, old newspapers, stationary, and other office papers are recovered every year.

In 1996, more than 60 percent of all newspapers distributed were recovered for recycling. So were 70 percent of the nation's corrugated containers and about 38 percent of all office papers.

This recovery means there was raw material to use for new products. It also put less pressure on our landfills. In fact, more paper is being recovered now than is going to landfills.

Approximately 200 mills in our country rely solely on recovered paper as a raw material, and most domestic mills use some recovered paper to make paper and paperboard products.

The United States is a world leader in recovering and recycling paper. We are currently recovering about 45 percent of all paper.