3 billion trees are cut down every year! Prof. Dr. Mustafa Öztürk: The main goal should be to produce paper from paper

Although we may not pay much attention when using it, the consumption of paper packaging is actually causing great harm to nature. The number of trees cut down annually just for paper packaging production is 3 billion. Sharing his thoughts on the matter on his social media account, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Öztürk recalled the 'Give paper, get a tree' campaigns and stated that a model of producing paper from paper must be adopted.

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Öztürk, who served as Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization between 2014 and 2018, drew attention to the production and consumption of paper packaging. Emphasizing that 3 billion trees are cut down annually for paper packaging production, Öztürk wrote the following:

IT WOULD CIRCLE THE EARTH 891 TIMES

“We do many things to keep ourselves looking good. Isn't it time we showed that same care to nature?

3 billion trees are cut down every year for paper packaging. If placed end to end, they would circle the Earth 891 times.

With the cutting of three billion trees every year; -approximately 1 billion 247 million tons of CO2 are produced -this is equivalent to the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by 250 million cars each year.

We lose three billion trees every year because of paper packaging. This breaks down as follows: 250 million trees are cut down every month. 342 thousand 465 trees are cut down every hour. 95 trees are cut down every second.

Worldwide, 3 billion trees are cut down annually for paper-based packaging, and in the EU, half of all paper is now used for packaging.

1 SHEET OF PAPER COSTS 10 LITERS OF CLEAN WATER

10 liters of clean water are consumed to produce one A4 sheet of paper.

The pulp and paper industry is one of the world's largest polluters and one of the most intensive users of freshwater. It also consumes 4 percent of the world's energy and is chemically intensive, polluting rivers and damaging ecosystems.

There was once a 'Give paper, get a tree' campaign that applied to all schools within the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) borders. All kinds of used newspapers, magazines, notebooks, photocopy paper, books, cardboard boxes, computer paper, and note paper were collected in blue bags.

From now on, 'producing paper from paper instead of producing paper from trees/plants' should be our country's primary goal. It should not be forgotten that used paper is not trash, but a valuable source of raw material. We must put an end to the wild collection of used paper.”

News Source: 12punto