PAPER AND PRINT STILL DRIVE THE MODERN WORLD

Paper consumption has changed over the years, as consumers have turned to digital and electronic means to consume news or communicate with others. With this change has come the belief that the paper industry contributes to deforestation and increased carbon emissions, and there are mounting calls for business and society in general to “go green and paperless.”

Forest products such as wood and paper continue to play a crucial role in modern society and economies, and are also an essential part of natural eco-systems, creating jobs while capturing carbon and cleaning the air. Using pulp, paper and paper packaging from sustainably managed plantations does not cause deforestation as species of trees are sustainably grown, harvested and replenished, capturing and storing carbon from the atmosphere while they are growing and once converted into paper or wood products.

Only 10% of farmed trees are harvested annually and these are fully replenished with new trees being planted within the same year. This leaves 90% to continue sequestering carbon from the air and the paper recycling system means that the carbon is locked up for longer.

In South Africa, wood for paper is sourced from 850 million trees planted over 676 000 hectares. These forests are managed carefully by professional foresters, environmentalists, researchers, engineers and others.

Digital media comes with its own set of issues, often ignoring the energy and financial costs of running devices and online systems – more than half the world still uses fossil fuels to generate electricity. As useful as they are, screens cannot replicate the strong tactile development that takes place when children use pen and paper to read and write. The addictive nature of digital devices is also a disadvantage, if taken to extremes.

Paper is just as much part of the digital journey – one still needs it to display bar codes and QR codes, and 3D printers use recycled paper. Print is not dead, it is just different and paper, in its many formats to support print, is here to stay.

International Print Day was celebrated on 26 October 2022.