paper industry recognizes outstanding recycling programs
New York, NY – As paper recovery reaches an all-time high in the U.S., the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) today honored a school, university, business, and community for their outstanding paper recycling efforts.
The 2008 AF&PA Recycling Awards were presented during the industry’s 131st Annual Paper Week, where it was also announced that a record 56 percent of the paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling in 2007.
“Today’s announcement is about honoring outstanding programs that are representative of the on-going commitment millions of Americans have to paper recycling,” said AF&PA President and CEO Donna Harman. “It will take the kinds of innovative and creative programs we celebrate today to reach the new 60 percent recovery goal set by the industry for 2012.”
“When businesses, communities, and schools commit to environmentally sustainable programs and actions, great things happen. Record-high paper recovery is an outcome of such efforts, and we are pleased to recognize the contributions of our award winners to our success and progress as an industry,” said Patrick J. Moore, chairman and CEO of Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation.
Award winners recognized today include:
- AF&PA School-Wide (K-12) Recycling Award - Pasco County, Florida
The District School Board of Pasco County works in creative ways with students, teachers, and administrators at the county’s 76 schools to promote and measure recycling success. In 2007, Pasco County schools collected 1,267 tons of paper products for recycling, helping the county save more than $135,000 in solid waste disposal costs.
- AF&PA College & University Recycling Award - Georgia Institute of Technology
Since the recycling program began at Georgia Tech in 1996, recycling has been successfully integrated into virtually all components of campus life. Last year, the school recovered more than 376 tons of paper products for recycling.
- AF&PA Business Leadership Recycling Award - Boise, Inc. Jackson, Alabama Paper Mill
The mill has its own recycling facility where it processes 120,000 tons of recovered paper each year. Employees operate a Recycling Road Show, going into local schools for hands-on demonstrations. The company also funds in-school recycling programs in two local counties.
- AF&PA Community Recycling Award - Brevard County, Florida
As a result of a variety of creative programs including partnerships, contests, and presentations that reach more than 10,000 residents annually, the community collected 33,341 tons of paper for recycling in 2006 making it one of the top 10 counties in the state for materials recycled per capita.
For additional information on the 2008 AF&PA Recycling Award winners, the paper industry’s new recovery goal, historical recovery data, and background materials and resources, please visit www.paperrecycles.org.
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AF&PA is the national trade association of the forest, paper, and wood products industry. AF&PA represents companies and related associations that engage in or represent the manufacture of pulp, paper, paperboard, and wood products. The forest products industry accounts for approximately 6 percent of the total U.S. manufacturing output, employs more than one million people, and ranks among the top 10 manufacturing employers in 42 states with an estimated payroll exceeding $50 billion. Visit AF&PA online at www.afandpa.org.
- By 2012, the paper industry hopes to recover 60 percent of the paper Americans consume.
- In 2007, the amount of paper recovered for recycling averaged 360 pounds for each man, woman, and child in the United States.
- Newspapers are recycled into other products such as cereal boxes, egg cartons, pencil barrels, grocery bags, tissue paper, cellulose insulation materials, and many more diverse products.