Return to top. Uncovering the costs of paper. The production of paper is a complex process with many environmental costs along the way. Soil erosion from deforestation. Air pollution from pulp mills and incinerators.
Deadly dioxin releases into rivers and lakes.
Forest diversity under tremendous pressure. Virgin wood means trees from natural forests are cut down, not trees from pulp plantations. It is difficult to assign numbers to the amount of wood going to paper production, as there are sources that don t directly show up like mill residues. Pulp suppliers are shifting from traditional sources like the U.S., to new suppliers like Brazil, Indonesia, and Chile. Loblolly pine grown in the southern U.S., grows at half that rate.