Government wants to fix stuff before it's broken

By: Larry Clark | Hickory Daily Record
Published: March 13, 2010

The black liquor issue I mentioned last week parallels a government effort several years ago to force newspapers to use recycled paper.

Black liquor is a biofuel, a byproduct of turning trees into paper.

Mandatory recycling was another one of those schemes that tried to treat an effect without examining the cause.

We were always recycling newsprint in one degree or another.

Back when newspaper ink was petroleum-based, it could be scrubbed off old newspapers.

That was BC, Before Computers.

We'd have the ink washed off, the paper recut and use it for typing and making notes.

Yes, children, there was a BC when we used manual typewriters. That means they weren't electric.

Recyled paper for actually printing the newspaper was available, but not in quantity.

See, making recycled newsprint requires a different process than turning a tree into paper.

Most recycled newsprint is made from old magazines.

The fact is, a paper mill producing new newsprint must be thoroughly refitted to make recycled newsprint.

In many cases, it's cheaper to build a new mill than refit an existing one.

Federal and state officials got on their high horses and declared that the full weight of government would fall woefully on newspapers if they didn't start using recycled paper.

We were already doing so. Most of the industry was incorporating recycled newsprint in amounts greater than what government wanted.

Usage was dependent on recycled paper mills coming on line to meet the demand.

Demand, not government, propelled some paper companies to overbuild.

Now that demand has decreased, paper companies are trying to find other uses for their properties or turning to other paper products.

These new mills, by the way, are ultra-modern and bright green, environmentally speaking.

The mills that manufacture new paper products use wood chips instead of bringing in logs and chipping them on-site.

Wood chip mills are reviled in some environmental circles, but chips are an important North Carolina export.

And I say again, Southern tree farmers don't clear cut and then walk away.

Trees for paper (and construction) are a sustainable, renewable resource that will feed families and industry indefinitely.

Our governmental mentors were off base on their stampede to make newspapers use recycled paper, but maybe the exercise made them feel better.

We should not relax our earthly stewardship because the rest of the world lags behind us in cleaning up industrial acts.

However, we should not waste our time and money on programs and legislation whose goals have already been surpassed.

Was there anyone in Washington or Raleigh who really believed that paper mills wouldn't burn black liquor — already on hand and dirt cheap — to save money?

Or newspapers would insist on not using recycled paper so they could spend more money on pricier new newsprint?

Government must be more alert on mandated rules or forcible legislation.

Often, lawmakers are a day late and a dollar short. Or, the money industry has saved by using alternative fuels and recycling far exceeds the penalties government wants to impose for not doing what free enterprise is already doing.

Make sense?

Larry Clark is a Record staff writer. Reach him at lclark@hickoryrecord.com.