Parkway School District's recycling program in Chesterfield, Missouri serves more than 18,000 students in 29 school buildings. The program began in 1990 after several elementary students made a presentation to the board of education requesting that the district be a better steward of the environment. Since that time, expanded efforts have resulted in an Environmental Services Department that oversees all District sustainability efforts. Results are impressive, including the recovery of more than 1,031 tons of newspaper, magazines, catalogs, direct mail, office paper, envelopes, and brochures and more than 138 tons of paper-based packaging in 2009.

• In 2010, 63.5 percent of the paper used in the U.S. was recovered for recycling. This represents an 89 percent increase in the recovery rate since 1990.
• Every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space.
• 87 percent (268 million) of Americans have access to curbside or drop-off paper recycling programs.
• In 2010 the amount of paper recovered for recycling averaged 334 pounds for each man, woman and child in the United States.