First, your just assuming that the only use for pulpwood is toilet paper. "Wasted" is figurative with the context above.
But more importantly, from your quote:
On a mass basis, over 65 million tons of roundwood (dry basis), or 36% of the annual U.S. timber harvest, is used each year in manufacturing paper and paperboard
36% is small trees that could still be in the ground. Sometimes this is from those surrounding old growth, but it is commonly from out-skirting areas or the way in, and could be avoided.