The 2008 figures for paper recycling in the US are out. The impact of a full year of recession is a decrease in per capita paper utilization, but no drop in the recycling trend. Since the 1970's the trend has been an increase of about 0.75% per year in recycling content. The recession did not interfere. 2008 saw an overall 57% recycling rate. The US remains on target for the goal of 60% by 2013.
Next year will need examining also. The municipal recycling efforts are much harder to subsidize than before. Revenues from all sources are down. But recycling is still less expensive per ton than trash disposal. It's tougher for towns to use revenue to cover collection costs, but most towns realize that pushing recycling efforts is still a cost reducer. If the word gets out to the public properly, the percentage improvement should hold.
I saw the latest figures for some of the local paper collecting bins. The net income is pennies per ton. The best money is from corrugated boxboard. It gets both repeat use as boxes and excellent recycling yield. Our town curbside collection contract is a mixed contract covering containers and paper with no further breakdown. We pay for each ton collected, but it's about $50 less per ton than the regular trash disposal.
Comments