"California's newspaper publishers are demonstrating their commitment to the environment,'' said Linda Moulton-Patterson, chairwoman of the California Integrated Waste Management Board, in Sacramento, which released the totals.
"It's an accomplishment that other industries should envy.''
In 2001, California publishers used 974,098 metric tons of recycled content newsprint.
Nine of the 10 largest newspaper publishers in California -- ranked by the amount of newsprint they use -- met the law's 50 percent recycled target, the waste board reported.
The Los Angeles Daily News; McClatchy, which owns the Sacramento Bee; and ANG newspapers, which owns the Oakland Tribune, topped the list, each using more than 80 percent recycled newsprint for their newspapers.
One company, Knight Ridder, which owns the San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, Monterey Herald and other papers, has not met the 50 percent standard. In 2001, 38 percent of the newspaper Knight Ridder used came from recycled content.
Knight Ridder officials said the company is a strong supporter of recycling.
But Knight Ridder's recycled newsprint rankings in California are low when compared to other publishers because Knight Ridder signed a 20-year contract in 1989 with a paper mill to supply its California newspapers, just before the law took effect, and paper under that contract does not qualify as recycled for purposes of the law, said Dan Dowis, general manager of newsprint supply for Knight Ridder.
"We had a business relationship that was created before the California law was enacted,'' said Dowis.
Dowis did not identify the mill, citing proprietary reasons. But Knight Ridder's Web site notes the company owns 13.5 percent of Ponderay Newsprint Company, which operates a newsprint mill in Usk, Wash.
Ponderay's newsprint has 20 percent recycled content. But to qualify as "recycled,'' California law requires newsprint to have at least 40 percent recycled content.
Dowis said that when the contract expires in 2009, he expects Knight Ridder's use of recycled content paper to increase in California. Nationally, he said, the company uses higher amounts of recycled paper: 87 percent of the newspaper Knight Ridder uses contains some recycled content, he said, with an average recycled content of 57 percent.
Knight Ridder, based in San Jose, is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, and owns 32 newspapers.
Environmentalists called the California law a success.
"This is good news. Most of the major publishers are complying,'' said Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste, in Sacramento.
Murray said that when companies use recycled newsprint, it reduces the need for logging. Recycling paper also uses less water and electricity at mills than making virgin paper from trees, he said.
"I have to say, I'm disappointed with Knight Ridder,'' Murray added. "To stick with a contract that has a mill using such a low percentage of recycled stock doesn't seem to make very good business sense. Resources cost money: Water costs money, energy costs money, all of these things cost money. Mills can be changed and upgraded.''
There are no penalties in California law for missing the 50 percent target.
In 1999, the Newspaper Association of America passed a resolution stating "newsprint made with recycled-content fiber can be equal in runability, print quality and price to newsprint made from 100 percent virgin-wood fiber.''
But the association said it preferred that recycled newsprint laws be voluntary, over concerns about the availability of recycled paper. – The (San Jose) Mercury News
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