I’ve been working in the recycling industry for over 17 years and have seen many
changes. There is SO MUCH TO TELL about recycling and I’m sure I probably won’t
cover all aspects. I thought it appropriate to BEGIN with some HISTORICAL FACTS on
recycling. I SELECTED a few to share with you:
1. In 1690, the Rittenhouse family established the first paper recycling mill near
Philadelphia.
2. In 1776, the first metal recycling in America occurred when the patriots in NY
City melted down a statue of King George III to make bullets.
3. In 1897, the first recycling center was established in NY City.
4. In 1948, the Fresh Kills landfill opened in Staten Island NY. It later became the
world’s largest city dump. Fresh Kills and the Great Wall of China are the only
man-made objects visible from space.
5. In 1970, April 22nd was the first Earth Day - it introduced the concept of recycling
to the general public.
6. In 1974, the first city-wide use of curbside recycling bins occurred in University
City, Missouri for collecting newspapers.
7. In 1986, Rhode Island became the first state to pass mandatory recycling laws for
aluminum and steel cans, glass, newspapers, and #1 and #2 plastic.
RECYCLING COULD BE GROUPED INTO TWO TYPES OF PROGRAMS:
Residential and Commercial.
Residential recycling programs can be CURB-SIDE or resident DROP-OFF.
Municipalities may determine WHICH TYPE to offer based on the economics of
COLLECTING AND HAULING the material. IF curb-side, today, it is generally
SINGLE STREAM – this means all different types of material such as glass, plastic,
metal and newspapers are commingled. If a city financially cannot provide curbside,
instead they may offer centrally located recycle bins for residents to drop off their
recyclables.
An EXAMPLE of a residential or community recycling program is one offered by the
Recycling Division of Abitibi-Bowater. Their program, the PAPER RETRIEVER,
PLACES 7 YARD RECYCLE BINS at LARGE non-profit organizations, churches and
schools. It is a FUND-RAISING ACTIVITY for these non-profits because they are
PAID for the paper collected. In the metro Detroit area, the paper is hauled to our plants
for processing.
About 4 years ago OUR OWNER DECIDED TO INTRODUCE a program whereby we
PAY for delivered paper and cardboard. Many of ROR’s employees THOUGHT IT
WOULDN’T BE SUCCESSFUL because of the many residential curbside programs
ALREADY IN EXISTENCE. We thought, WHO WOULD BOTHER when they can put
it out at the curb?! Boy, WERE WE WRONG! Today, many area residents have started
their own collection program and they bring us carloads of paper and cardboard every
week – approx. 500 tons per month – thus we are paying out cash at the door approx.
$25,000/month!
HOWEVER, OUR PRIMARY BUSINESS IS NOT RESIDENTIAL BUT RATHER
COMMERICIAL RECYCLING. Commercial programs HAVE GROWN over the years
– not only in the number of corporations participating but also in scope.
EARLY OFFICE PAPER RECYCLING PROGRAMS WERE LIMITED WHEREBY
contamination problems dictated it was only economically feasible to collect the white
office paper. For many corporations IT WAS CHEAPER to just send it to a landfill.
MUCH OF THIS HAS CHANGED TODAY. Markets are GLOBAL and LANDFILLS
ARE more EXPENSIVE (no one wants one in their backyard). Also, IDENTITY
THEFT has given rise to the demand for document shredding. We are probably all
familiar with the fact that the FEDERAL GOVT. has new RULES requiring businesses to
TAKE APPROPRIATE MEASURES to dispose of sensitive information.
PRINTERS ARE A UNIQUE PART OF COMMERCIAL RECYCLING. DUE TO
THEIR LARGER VOLUMES. It may very well be sorted, and it is what we REFER TO
as PRE-CONSUMER waste paper (that which has not been out in the public’s hands yet)
RATHER THAN POST-CONSUMER waste paper like that of the residential programs.
Pre-consumer generally has FEWER contaminants and is likely SORTED since it is
produced by the manufacturing sector, EACH COMPANY HAVING HIGH VOLUMES
in comparison to the post-consumer, residential collection programs FOR INDIVIDUAL
HOUSEHOLDS.
OUR COMPANY is referred to as a “COMMERCIAL PROCESSOR” meaning we
collect the material for recycling and we prepare it for the actual paper recycling mills.
In PREPARING THIS PAPER FOR SALE to the recycle mills, we may sort, remove
contaminants, shred and bale the paper.
WE SELL THE PAPER BY GRADE. The grade of a paper is basically the
DESCRIPTION OR DEFINITION AS TO what type of paper it is. JUST LIKE
RECIPES FOR COOKING, the paper recycling mills use recipes to make their product
and THE MATERIAL WE SELL IS LIKE THE INGREDIENTS.
The GRADING we use is VERY IMPORTANT to the mills. JUST AS A CHEF wants
to know if he is using margarine or butter, cream or milk! The grading system was
primarily established by ISRI – that is the INSTITUTE OF SCRAP RECYCLING
INDUSTRIES. EXAMPLES: SOP #37; OCC #11 We currently HANDLE OVER
20 GRADES at our plant and we process over 15,000 tons per month.
A QUESTION ON THE MINDS OF MANY TODAY, especially in Michigan, is HOW
WILL RECYCLING FAIR with today’s market conditions? HISTORICALLY, in hard
economic times, people tend to consume less which translates into fewer commodities
being collected. Also, MUNICIPAL RECYCLING PROGRAMS are first cut when
budgets tighten. BUT, the recycling industry has a number of desirable qualities that
could be a benefit in these economic times.
ILSR, the INSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF-RELIANCE out of Washington said it best:
RECYCLING IS AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOOL AS WELL AS AN
ENVIRONMENTAL ONE.
As an Environmental tool, listen to these statistics:
For every 1 ton of paper recycled, we save:





17 trees (35’ tall)
3,988 kwh of electricity (enough to power the avg. house for 6 mos.)
3.5 cubic yards of landfill space (comparable to one family sized pickup)
2.5 barrels of oil (enough fuel for an avg. car to travel 1260 miles)
7,017 gallons of water (does anyone know how many showers that would
equate to?)
RECYCLING as an ECONOMIC TOOL, THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS
INTERESTING:
When talking about the recycling of commodities, 18 jobs can be created at a recycled
paper mill, as opposed to 1 job that would exist, to handle the same 10,000 lbs. of paper
heading to a landfill.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE, in Pennsylvania, the Dept. of Environmental Protection
estimated the activities of collection, recycling and re-use/remanufacturing of goods
employs 81,322 people with annual payrolls of $2.9 billion dollars and sales of product
and materials in the range of 18-20 billion dollars.
THE VERY NATURE OF RECYCLING WILL HELP US ACHIEVE THE GOALS OF
IMPROVING LOCAL ECONOMIES AND REVIVING DOMESTIC
MANUFACTURING.
Recycling should be viewed as an important piece of a healthy domestic economy!
We look forward to seeing all of you at our table afterwards so that YOU MAY SIGN UP
TO BEGIN saving our environment AND STIMULATING OUR ECONOMY!