In 2019 alone, my country's wood pulp consumption was 35.81 million tons

The wastewater produced by the alkali pulping process in the papermaking industry contains a large amount of lignin and is dark brown in color, called "black liquor". Black liquor contains a large amount of suspended solids, organic pollutants and toxic substances, and direct discharge into water bodies will cause serious pollution.

In 2017, the national pulp output was 16.2092 million tons. From January to November 2018, the national paper product output was 107.15 million tons. That is to say, my country's paper production capacity is about 7 times that of pulp production capacity. Papermaking consumes 15 tons of water per ton of paper, and pulping consumes 30 tons of water per ton of pulp. Papermaking wastewater is still 3.5 times the total pulping wastewater.

There is a formula for wastewater discharge standards:

Subsequent papermaking will also cause noise pollution, power consumption, and transportation will cause exhaust pollution...
The paper bag has finally arrived in our hands. Looking at it now, do you still think it is environmentally friendly?

Paper bags are no longer simple

What is very intriguing is that the paper industry is considered one of the largest sources of pollution to the environment. As we all know, paper bags are considered environmentally friendly, but no one questions it. What happened in the middle? Is it just because of its high recycling rate and easy decomposition?
From the "China Paper Industry 2019 Annual Report", the author found the following data. We can use it as an entry point to explore some reasons.

Let’s look at the ratio of various consumption volumes of paper and cardboard to total consumption volume in 2019:

There must be one reason for this: paper packaging is more environmentally friendly.

So what makes "paper packaging more environmentally friendly" deeply ingrained in people's minds?

This has to mention “environmental protection organizations for environmental protection”.

But in fact, ordinary polyethylene plastic bags can be degraded by light. Through ultraviolet radiation, the polymer chains of polyethylene begin to become brittle and break, and eventually decompose into microscopic particles. However, because scientists do not know how long this process will take, they have given periods ranging from 10 to 1,000 years.
Thinking about it carefully, whenever we hear the word "environmental protection", it seems to be inherently correct and just. When we see the discoloration of the river water, the garbage in the ocean, and the hungry polar bears, we can feel the guilt of being a human being towards the earth and the harm we have done to other living things. We have a strong sense of guilt and rarely explore some data. true or false.

Some businesses have seen the business opportunities hidden behind "paper bags are more environmentally friendly", and they have contributed to this "environmental protection movement". "Paper" seems to be omnipotent. It can not only be made into handbags, but also cups, straws, clothes, decorations, etc., and then all are promoted as "environmental protection".

Although paper bags do have the advantage of being decomposed quickly, with the popularity of paper bags, their use and discard frequency have also accelerated significantly, and the final result will only run counter to environmental protection. However, among the more environmentally friendly materials that are currently available, paper bags are considered the best choice.

In the absence of a better choice, if you want to do your part to protect the environment, try to use less and reuse paper bags.