What Won’t Get Harvested, Where, and When: the Effects of Increased Paper ~ecycling on Timber Harvest

What Won’t Get Harvested, Where and When: The Effects Of Increased Paper Recycling On Timber Harvest Peter J. Ince, Ph.D. USDA Forest Service Pulp and paper production and paper recycling have increased in recent decades to unprecedented levels throughout the world. This paper presents a review and comparison of regional trends in timber harvest, pulp and paper production, waste paper recovery and waste paper utilization. On a worldwide basis, increased recycling will have the greatest effects on potential timber harvest in North America and Europe as a result of the large magnitude of pulp and paper production and potential for increased recycling in those regions. Recycling will likely have less of an effect on timber harvests in South America, Africa, Oceania, and Asia because of established patterns of wood use or relatively small volumes of pulpwood obtained from native forests. The worldwide demand for wood fiber will continue to grow, and overall pulpwood consumption is not likely to diminish substantially in any region. Projected effects of recycling on timber harvest in North America were developed by comparing projections of pulpwood harvest with and without expected increases in paper recycling. The results show that increased recycling will have great effects on softwood pulpwood harvest, mainly in the western and southern United States, and on hardwood pulpwood harvest in the South; increased recycling will have a more modest effect on pulpwood harvest in Canada and the northern United States. PSWP Working Paper #3