AF&PA Recycling Award Winner Case Studies
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Purdy High School
Location: Purdy, MO
Students: 675
Amount of paper recovered for recycling in 2010: 52,000 pounds
Amount of paper recovered per student: 77 pounds
The Purdy High School recycling program in Southwest Missouri was initiated in 2005, with a dual goal of providing a service to the community and raising funds for the Spanish Club. Just five years later, this self-sustaining program successfully recovered 26 tons of paper - 77 pounds per student – while providing rigorous academic integration and education for the community at large.
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Damascus Elementary School
Location: Salem, OH
Students: 450
Amount of paper recovered for recycling in 2010: 133,000 pounds
Amount of paper recovered per student: 295 pounds
Environmental stewardship is a priority at Damascus Elementary School in Salem, Ohio, as evidenced by the school's exemplary paper recycling program. In 2010 – just seven years after its incept– the program successfully recovered 133,000 pounds of paper and paper-based packaging for recycling. School officials and program organizers consider paper recycling to be a key element in instilling a sense of local and global environmental responsibility in their students.
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Perry High School
Perry, OH
In 2010, Perry High School in Perry, Ohio, collected more than 155 tons of paper—517 pounds per student, faculty and staff member. The Recycling Club, responsible for the program, is actually a collaboration among several extracurricular organizations, including the Science Club, United Way (Key) Club, Student Council, and Perry Service Learning. Through special events, education, and outreach, Perry High has successfully engaged the student body and the community in recycling awareness and action.
Alpena High School
Alpena, AR
The Alpena High School recycling program in Alpena, Arkansas, is a testament to the difference one person can make. Born of the passion of one high school student in 2005, just five years later the program successfully collected 37,000 pounds of paper — nearly 64 pounds per student! This was accomplished by making recycling bins accessible, creating a student volunteer workforce, and incorporating recycling education and promotion into the curriculum. The end result is a program supported by the school's faculty, administration, and the community that has served as a model for starting recycling programs in other schools.
- 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.