Recycling services
PAPER
Your salon disposes of a great deal of paper and cardboard. Even if yours is a “paperless” business (for example, you print neither receipts nor invoices), much of your inventory probably comes in small branded boxes which were probably shipped to you in larger boxes.You may also have an assortment of magazines or newspapers that you offer for reading material. .
Your salon brings in as well as disposes of a steady flow of paper and cardboard which, as you well know, you often pay for on both ends.
Why is it important to recycle paper?
People are becoming increasingly aware of plastic pollution but too often they think paper is the solution. It isn’t. Not if it means clearcutting and destroying our precious few remaining natural habitats. Kilo for kilo paper could be doing more harm than plastic. (To be clear, the solution is not even a material. It is a fundamental design principle: circularity. Click here to read more!)
Building on this comparison, paper production requires much more energy than that for plastic. Paper is also heavier so transporting it requires more energy. And it is not nearly as durable as plastic which means paper packaging or bags can only be reused a very limited number of times. Just because it is a renewable material does not necessarily mean that it is better.
RECYCLING PAPER
Paper is mixed with water, so it turns into a pulp. Contaminations are removed as well as any fibres that are too short. Inks are then removed. The clean usable fibre is piped to the pulper, where further water is added to produce thinner pulp. This is then pumped onto a mesh screen and the water is drained. As the fibre goes over the wire, it begins to take the form of a wet sheet. Next the fibres go through a series of dryers and rollers before ending up on a long reel. This reel is cut into smaller rolls for printers to use or for converting into sheets of paper.
RECYCLING CARDBOARD
All cardboard is mixed with water, so it turns into a pulp. With filtering mechanisms, contaminations are removed from the material. The clean cardboard fibre pulp is mixed and pressed, then fed to a paper making machine. This machine removes the water from the paper paste, so the material is dried to make long paper sheets. The dried paper sheets are then rolled on a large spool. With these spools, any kind of cardboard can be produced and this whole process can be carried out in as few as 14 days to make new products, such as cardboard boxes.