U.S. EPA Targets Paper Recycling

The United States EPA, Washington, has sought the input of companies throughout the recycling supply chain to help it determine how best to encourage Americans to recycle more paper.

The federal agency hosted a meeting in early June of more than 40 people drawn from the paper industry, the recycling and solid waste industries, municipalities and paper consuming industry companies and allied trade groups. More than a dozen EPA employees also attended the National Paper Recovery Stakeholders Meeting, held in Washington on June 2.

Prior to the meeting, interviews with these same stakeholders led the EPA to several conclusions that it published in a summary report.

The interviewing process led EPA staffers from the agency’s Office of Solid Waste/Municipal and Industrial Solid Waste Division to ask participants to focus on three primary questions:

·        What steps can be taken to increase the supply of paper recovered in the U.S.?

·        What steps can be taken to t increase the quality of paper recovered in the U.S.?; and

·        What can be done to increase the demand for recycled content paper and paperboard products?

Stakeholders have been asked to consider how municipalities can tap into additional fiber streams (including at apartment and multi-unit complexes), and also how incentives and increased awareness can help the book publishing industry recycle more of its returned books and the United States Postal Service to recycle more of its undeliverable mail.

On the recovered fiber consuming side, textbook publishers and large book publishing firms were mentioned as potentially increasing their involvement, as were food packaging firms who have expressed confusion over FDA food-contact guidelines.

The report notes that, “Most stakeholders . . . believe that there are potential benefits from EPA’s stakeholder process that can help focus on areas of concern and help develop collaborative efforts to further increase paper recycling.”