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Paper Recycling Exceeds 50%! The American Forest & Paper Association reported that 2003 marked the first year that less than half of the paper produced ended up in landfills. Paper recycling, or as the industry lingo refers to it, fiber recycling, has been slowly but surely gaining momentum. Examples of fiber include cardboard, newspapers, magazines, junk mail, and office paper. As mentioned in earlier articles, paper recycling is actually getting easier. Technologies have improved to the point that most all cardboards are now recyclable and glossies no longer have to be removed from newspapers. The world market for recyclable fiber, led by China, continues to grow. Whereas ten years ago, the prices paid for recyclable commodities, including paper, varied widely, we now see fewer dramatic up and down spikes. This was because we would go through times of little fiber available followed by times when everybody had a six month supply on hand. The concern now is, where are we going to get more fiber? Kind of like a healthy diet, huh? With the advances in technology and globalization of demand, fiber recycling appears to be on the edge of becoming a “mature, stable market”. This is good news for recycling, as paper, particularly cardboard, is the backbone of any recycling program. For the Oneida County Solid Waste Department, fiber recycling accounts for about 80% of our annual recycling tonnage. When New York City eliminated some of its recycling programs two years ago, paper recycling was retained. Why?, because the program was cost effective. Paper is a relatively dense material that packs well. This reduces collection costs and in combination with higher end product value made the overall cost of fiber recycling comparable or less than landfilling. That’s a big hurdle leaped! Some of the items we currently recycle, would be much cheaper to landfill. While that may be news to some folks, it’s a fact known for a long time by garbage haulers who perform the lions share of recycling work, collection. Plastics in particular offer the greatest challenge in collection because they take up so much space. By the time we pick up, sort, bale and ship plastics the net cost of recycling often exceeds $200 per ton. Container glass is a problem “on the other end of the spectrum”. It’s a dense material, with low value, which has to be shipped long distances. It also represents well over half of the container tonnage currently recycled. (No doubt, Wisconsin’s per capita tavern density is a contributing factor to this). So, if we can find economical uses of glass “closer to home” we’ll be able to increase the cost effectiveness of glass recycling. Bottom line, good news for recycling on fiber, but we’ve got some work to do on containers! |
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©2004 Oneida County Solid Waste Department
PO Box 400
Rhinelander, WI 54501
PO Box 400
Rhinelander, WI 54501
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