Paper recycling in the USA
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Paper recycling is one of America’s great environmental success stories. As a result of industry leadership and the efforts of American citizens who recycle paper on a daily basis, the country has reached a new milestone. In 2007, a record-high of 56% of all paper consumed in the US was recovered for recycling. Total paper recovery reached 54.3 million tons (49.2 million tonnes) in 2007, equalling approximately 360 US pounds (163 kg) of paper for every person in America. To illustrate just how much that is, imagine enough paper to fill 130 Empire State Buildings.
This recovery rate marks the early accomplishment of the paper industry’s 55% target, originally set for 2012. In light of this, industry professionals have now set their sights even higher. The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) has announced a new goal of 60% recovery in 2012 (see Figure 1).
 figure 1: Paper and paperboard recovery in the USA, 1993–2007 |
A history of growth
The paper industry has been striving for higher rates of recycling since 1990. That year, a target of 40% paper recovery was set, and achieved in 1994. Since then, increasingly aggressive goals have been set and met, and AF&PA and its member companies have led the way in raising awareness for paper recycling. The results have been impressive. Since 1990, the amount of paper recovered for recycling in the US has increased by more than 87%. (Although a growth of 40% to 56% would seem to suggest otherwise, this figure takes into account that consumption increased at the same time recovery was increasing, which kept the recovery percentage number from going up by as many tons as were recovered.)
 Recovered paper is delivered to a conveyor belt |
The upside, environmentally, is that each ton (0.9 tonne) of recovered paper saves 3.3 cubic yards (2.5 cubic metres) of landfill space and, in turn, reduces greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the amount of paper recovered for recycling exceeded the amount of paper landfilled by 67% in 2007. In addition, paper that is not recovered for recycling may go to waste-to-energy facilities or into construction products.
 where workers at Smurfit Stone’s recovered fibre facility in Jacksonville, Florida, sort grades of paper |
More paper is recovered from the municipal waste stream than all plastic, glass, and metals combined, according to 2006 EPA data. High levels of recovery of newspaper and old corrugated containers, both above 70% in 2007, have contributed to this success. While there is still scope for improvement in those areas, getting to 60% will require the increased recovery of other paper grades – especially the types more commonly found in homes and offices.
Growing global demand
One of the most dramatic developments of recent years has been the rapid growth in demand for recovered paper. World demand for recovered paper has surged by about 40% since 1999, with about 70% of the overall increase accounted for by Asia, particularly China. China has been investing heavily in new paper and paperboard capacity, most of which relies on fibre from recovered paper.
US exports of recovered paper to China surged from just 1.4 million tons (1.3 million tonnes) in 1999 to 11.8 million tons (10.7 million tonnes) in 2007. Exports to other regions of the world remained relatively flat over the same period. As a result, China’s share of US recovered paper exports rose from 17% in 1990 to 59% in 2007.
Given this continuing surge in global demand for recovered fibre, an increase in recovery is not only good for the environment, but also vital to the continued success of the paper industry. Domestically, recovered fibre accounts for about 37% of the raw product used in US paper mills, and 139 out of 426 mills now use recovered fibre exclusively.
Access to paper recycling
Paper recovery is a grass roots success story. The main factor in bringing about this level of change has been an increased level of commitment by individuals to environmentally-sustainable programmes. People from every walk of life have prioritized paper recycling at home, in their offices, and in their communities.
A major factor in this equation is access. Since 1994, AF&PA has performed a series of national surveys to measure the extent and track the growth of access to community-level paper and paperboard recycling. According to its latest survey, conducted in 2007, 87% of the US population now has access to kerbside or drop-off paper recycling programmes.
Kerbside programmes, as the name suggests, refer to those communities that have regularly scheduled pick-ups of recyclables, including paper. These programmes vary from community to community in terms of the specific grades being collected and if they are separated from or intermingled with other recyclable materials. Drop-off programmes offer the opportunity for residents to recycle household materials in a common location. These programmes also vary in terms of the materials and grades that can be recycled.
The high level of access to paper and paperboard recycling has been maintained in the US, whether the statistics look at percentages of population or number of communities. This is even more positive when one considers the realities of population growth and the increase in the number of communities in the US over the past decade.
Interestingly, access to recycling of mixed paper grades – especially direct mail, telephone directories, and coated and uncoated paperboard – grew significantly since the 2005 survey. This suggests that communities with existing kerbside and drop-off programmes have added additional paper and paperboard categories to these programmes. This is good news for the industry, because significant growth in the recovery of these grades will be imperative in reaching the 60% goal by 2012.
Education and outreach
Even with the dedication of the industry and the millions of Americans actively involved, getting to 60% recovery will not be easy. Each percentage point of recovery represents roughly one million additional tonnes of fibre – enough to fill more than 14,000 railroad cars.
Achieving this next milestone will mean convincing Americans to recycle even more of the paper products they use in their everyday lives. Magazines, catalogues, direct mail and paper packaging are all important commodities that can be recycled into new paper products. To help increase paper recycling in homes, schools, and offices, AF&PA is engaged in a variety of partnerships and outreach programmes.
Keep America Beautiful (KAB), for example, is an organization dedicated to encouraging individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. Through an international affiliates programme, it focuses on litter prevention, waste minimization and recycling, and beautification, such as graffiti prevention and removal, creating community gardens, tree planting, and building and enhancing green spaces.
Working together, AF&PA and KAB have reached thousands of students and educators with paper recycling messages. By providing materials and resources to help schools implement or rejuvenate paper recycling programmes, they are educating students and their families, and instilling positive habits they hope will last a lifetime.
AF&PA has also collaborated with worldwide childrens’ book publisher Scholastic, Inc to create classroom materials that have reached millions of students and their families. The activities, tied to the national education standards and written by teachers for teachers, provide background information and classroom activities that bring recycling and the paper-making process to life.
Additional outreach efforts focusing on increasing office recycling are being developed with long-time industry partner the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Solid Waste. EPA is dedicated to reducing solid waste by reducing and recycling, and has established a 35% national recycling rate focusing on paper, packaging, and food scraps/yard trimmings. Clearly the current success in paper recovery goes a long way towards helping EPA meet its overall recycling rate. According to Maria Vickers, Deputy Director of the EPA Office of Solid Waste, the advance in paper recovery between 1990 and 2007 reduced emissions by more than 97 million tons (87.9 million tonnes) of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Sustainability
While recycling is of paramount importance to AF&PA, the organization is also committed to other environmental initiatives. All members are required to join a programme such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative programme, which ensures the wood fibre used in paper production is sourced from sustainable forests.
In addition, the association continually assesses its overall footprint on the environment, and has made a voluntary commitment to reducing climate emissions and energy use further, having already made significant improvements in both areas. It takes its responsibility towards its renewable and recyclable resource seriously and is continually working towards maximum efficiency.
AF&PA and its member companies are proud of the current level of paper recycling in the US, and committed to achieving 60% recovery by 2012.
Donna Harman is President and CEO of the American Forest and Paper Association
e-mail: dharman1@afandpa.org
Agenda 2020
One of the special projects supported by the AF&PA is the Agenda 2020 Technology Alliance, an industry-led partnership with government and academia that holds the promise of reinventing the forest products industry through innovation in processes, materials and markets. Agenda 2020 is comprised of platforms designed to use emerging technologies to create and capture value from both new and existing product streams.
The Next Generation Fiber Recovery and Utilization platform seeks to develop and deploy technologies that improve quality and quantity of recovered fibre while lowering operating costs and energy requirements for recycling mills.
The key area of focus for this platform is sorting systems for recovered fibre. Participants are developing a research project that will test mechanical and sensor technologies to provide greater volume and ensure less contamination in recovered paper going to mills.
The Next Generation Fiber Recovery and Utilization platform will also co-ordinate with the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in the UK to exchange information and share findings on best practices at material recovery facilities. WRAP is conducting research in this area and has recently become a member of Agenda 2020.
Recycling success stories
Outstanding paper recycling efforts in the USA are recognized through the annual AF&PA Recycling Awards. Recently announced in conjunction with the 131st Paper Week conference, the 2008 recipients include a school, a university, a business, and a community paper recycling programme that demonstrate the kind of innovations that will be critical to AF&PA’s success.
Their accomplishments have resulted not only in large quantities of paper being collected for recycling, but also in the education of individuals across the country.
The District School Board of Pasco County, Florida, for example, works with students, teachers, and administrators at the county’s 76 schools to promote and measure recycling success. Since the recycling programme began at Georgia Tech in 1996, recycling has been successfully integrated into virtually all components of campus life. As a result, in 2007 the school recovered more than 376 tons (341 tonnes) of paper products for recycling.
The Boise, Inc., Jackson, Alabama paper mill has its own recycling facility where it processes 120,000 tons (109,000 tonnes) of recovered paper each year. Employees also operate a Recycling Road Show, going into local schools and giving hands-on demonstrations of the recycling process. And, as a result of a variety of creative programmes including partnerships, contests, and presentations that reach more than 10,000 residents annually, the community of Brevard County, Florida, collected 33,341 tons (30,245 tonnes) of paper for recycling in 2006.
Video highlights and background information about each of the award-winning programmes are available on: www.paperrecycles.org
