<P> Paper waste accounts for up to 40% of total waste produced in the United States each year, which adds up to 71.6 million tons of paper waste per year in the United States alone . The average office worker in the US prints 31 pages every day . Americans also use in the order of 16 billion paper cups per year . </P> <P> Conventional bleaching of wood pulp using elemental chlorine produces and releases into the environment large amounts of chlorinated organic compounds, including chlorinated dioxins . Dioxins are recognized as a persistent environmental pollutant, regulated internationally by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants . Dioxins are highly toxic, and health effects on humans include reproductive, developmental, immune and hormonal problems . They are known to be carcinogenic . Over 90% of human exposure is through food, primarily meat, dairy, fish and shellfish, as dioxins accumulate in the food chain in the fatty tissue of animals . </P> <P> Some manufacturers have started using a new, significantly more environmentally friendly alternative to expanded plastic packaging . Made out of paper, and known commercially as PaperFoam, the new packaging has mechanical properties very similar to those of some expanded plastic packaging, but is biodegradable and can also be recycled with ordinary paper . </P> <P> With increasing environmental concerns about synthetic coatings (such as PFOA) and the higher prices of hydrocarbon based petrochemicals, there is a focus on zein (corn protein) as a coating for paper in high grease applications such as popcorn bags . </P>

Where did the term scratch paper come from