ارزيابي جنبه هاي اقتصادي و زيست محيطي بازيافت كاغذ و مقوا از زباله هاي شهري اصفهان

Evaluation of Economic and Environmental Aspects of Paper and Paperboard Recycling from Municipal Solid Wastes of Isfahan City

Background: In the recent years, the problem of increased amount of municipal solid wastes such as paper and paperboard and also unsafe disposal of them, cause damage to living environment. Without implementing a good recycling process, wasting of national capital and destroying of natural resources will ensue. Regarding the importance of recycling, we evaluated the economic and environmental aspects of paper and paperboard recycling of municipal solid wastes in Isfahan city. Materials and Methods: It was a cross sectional- descriptive study that was done in 2006. The required data was achieved by field observations, library studies, interview with head of recycling organization, studying archived documents in that organization and finally analyzing them. Results: From 24,864 tones paper and paperboard used in year 2006 in Isfahan city, only 15.39% were recycled and the rest of them (84.61%) which was mixed with wet solid waste were thrown away. The economic and environmental advantages of 15.39% recycling paper and paperboard in Isfahan city in year 2006 were saving 689,011 cubic meter water, saving 30,623 gigajoule energy and prevention of cutting 65,061 trees. The income from selling recycled paper and paperboard in monitored year was about 1,951,841,000 Rials. Conclusion: Paper and paperboard recycling from Isfahan municipal solid wastes has economic and environmental justification