2006 PAPER RECYCLING CONFERENCE: Staking Claims to New Supply Lines

Despite the best efforts of recyclers, recyclable paper is still escaping recovery and winding up in landfills, according to a panel of speakers that addressed the issue of increasing supply at the 2006 Paper Recycling Conference & Trade Show.

According to figures presented by Jerry Hawk, chairman of the Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC), a sizable amount of recyclable paper is winding up in Georgia landfills. According to the Georgia Waste Characterization study, released in 2005, the state’s municipal solid waste (MSW) was comprised of 11 percent old corrugated containers (OCC), 4.8 percent old newspapers (ONP) and 3.4 percent office paper.

According to Hawk, this material that is being lost to landfills has numerous consuming markets within Georgia. The state has 15 paper mills, nine of which rely exclusively on recycled fiber.

The SERDC in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, which helped organize the study, and other groups like the Georgia Recycling Coalition are using the information from the study to educate the public and private sector on the opportunities represented by the recyclable material currently winding up in the state’s landfills, according to Hawk.

One educational effort is a series of plant tours, organized by the waste study’s sponsors, which give local and state public and private sector officials the change to tour working paper mills and learn about the study. The most recent tour was conducted at Pratt Industries’ facility in Conyers, Ga., on June 12 and was attended by 126 people, said Hawk.

Mickey Mills of Bluegrass Regional Recycling Corp. (BRRC), Lexington, Ky., told attendees about BRRC’s single stream, plus glass program, which accepts co-mingled paper, plastic and metal from homes and collects glass separately at a drop off center. The system helps boost collection rates for paper and the general volume of material because it is simple and convenient for residents, according to Mills.

Patrick Fitzgerald from RecycleBank offered another solution to encouraging recycling—offering financial incentives to participation. RecycleBank partners with national chains and local businesses in its home city of Philadelphia that will redeem “RecycleBank dollars” earned by recycling. Participating residents are issued a RecycleBank container with an RFID tag. At pickup, the container is weighed and scanned and participants are issued credits redeemable at participating retailers of the household’s choice, offering an economic incentive to recycle, in addition to the environmental obligation, according to Fitzgerald.