Innovations in production technology and decreases in the cost of equipment have made recycling paper into new paper

Innovations in production technology and decreases in the cost of equipment have made recycling paper into new paper products much more cost-efficient over the last twenty years. Despite these advances, though, the "point of price viability" (the price that new paper made from trees must reach to make recycled paper comparable in price) is unchanged at $2.12 per ream of paper.

Which of the following, if true, most explains why the increased cost-efficiency of recycled paper has not lowered the point of price viability?

(A)The cost of unprocessed trees to make new paper has fallen dramatically.
(B)The decreases in the cost of recycling equipment have occurred despite increases in the cost of raw materials required to manufacture such equipment.
(C)Innovations in production technology have made it much more cost-efficient to produce new paper from trees.
(D)Most paper is made from the scraps and sawdust left after processing new trees for lumber, rather than directly from the trees themselves.
(E)When the price of planting new saplings to replace cut trees becomes more expensive, forests reserves not previously worth cutting become cost-effective to cut.


OA C

Source: Princeton Review