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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0688.000 2002-2004IIarry Kim Mayor (11u tv itf �If1TMti Barbara Bell Director Nelson Iio Deputy Director DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 25 Aupuni Street, Room 210 • Hilo, Ilawari 96720A252 (808) 961-8083 • Fax (808) 961-8086 RECtivd* July 2, 2004 ate 1� /_ D Mr. Joe Reynolds, Chair and Mr. Mike Tulang, Vice -Chair County Cm Irell and Members of the Iiawai'i County Council Parks and Environmental Management Committee 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, HI 96720 Subject: June, 2004 Resource Recvcline Article: Paper Recycling.- Good for the Economy, Good for the Environment Dear Messrs. Reynolds, Tulang and Council Members, The recyclables market is an interesting world where long-term trends and international issues cannot be ignored. The paper market is especially interesting in relation to Waste Reduction Technologies. With paper fibers measuring 23.5% of our East Hawaii waste stream (April 2001), it is important for us to understand the opportunities it presents, as well as the economics, in our present and future Solid Waste services. I found the most relevant and interesting points in the enclosed article to be: • Consumption of recovered paper will grow by 6 million tons per year over the next 10 years. This represents dramatic increases in demand for recovered paper both in the domestic and international markets. • To meet the domestic and international needs, large volumes of paper must be collected for recycling. • There is an urgent need to increase our paper recycling rates and educate the public about the value and strategic importance recycling plays in the fiscal health of our County, State and Nation as well as the physical health of our planet. • Paper can be recycled up to 10 times. Also, when pricing fluctuates, paper is not an easy commodity to transition between a virgin source and a recycled source. Unlike the extractive industry of ferrous metals (for cars, appliances, canning) where more can be fairly easily mined, paper has a longer time frame for production. Accurate projections of our clean, recyclable paper as compared to our waste paper stock, are essential for vendors as well as the County. Barbara Bell DIRECTOR 100%Comm. No. cc: Mayor Harry Kim Ref. To: TEmr, Lono Tyson, SWD Chief Ref. Dote 1 3 7004 Eileen O'Iiora-Weir, Recycling Coordinator 7/awai7 County is an equal opportunity D ..ui,, and nrnnlnorr Reprinted from RESOURCE RECYCLING N.,IhN,.rI s, ,dCp,� 1-n,4 hirty-five years ago, the first Earth Day rekindled the idea that paper and other materials must be recycled for the good of our environment. In 1988, the U.S. Envi- ronmental Protection Agency (Washington) set a national recycling goal of 25 percent. Since that time, the paper recycling rate has grown to nearly 50 percent, and along with it, our industry. According to market research from R.W. Beck & Associates (Boston), the recycling industry in general now accounts for more than three percent of the U.S. gross domes- tic product and directly employs more than one million people, with another 1.4 million jobs indirectly supporting the recycling indus- try. For every ton of recovered paper, the paper industry supports 4.3 recycling -relat- ed jobs. The paper industry's collection efforts produce an annual payroll of $37 bil- lion and contribute more than $3 billion per year in taxes. Beyond the economic incentives, the recycling industry has also managed to divert significant volumes of paper away from the municipal waste stream. Every bale of corrugated boxes collected helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, saves water energy and reduces the discharge and air pollutants. Reaching 50 percent has not been an easy feat. The paper industry and - many others have challenged critics, indiffaence, igno- rance and budget i, cuts to get to where it is today. So, we have much to be proud of, but the job is far from over. `Tile American Forest and Paper Association (Washington) has developed a new U.S. paper recy- cling goal of 55 percent by 2012. An addi- tional five percent may not seem like much, until you visualize the tonnage. In terms of tonnage, five percent is the equivalent of 23 skyscrapers filled top -to -bottom with paper 7, Weyerhaeuser's restructur-1 ing of this Nashville paper recycling plant included the installation of a high-speed, automated, optical sorting system for recycled paper Mark Starnes is vice president of Weyerhaeuser Recycling (Federal Way, Washington). He can be con- tacted at nwk.stames@weyerhaeuser.com Resource Recycling June 2004 v Y — every year for the next eight years. Why change now? Globally, the paper industry has invested bil- lions of dollars in equipment over the past decade in order to recover larger volumes of paper. As a result of this investment, indus- try research indicates that consumption of recovered paper will grow globally by six million tons per year over the next ten years. Recycling paper makes good economic sense, as recovered paper has become an internationally traded commodity used in mills worldwide to make new paper. How- ever, the development of new recycling mills over the past few years has led to dramatic increases in the demand for recovered paper, both in domestic and international markets. Mills in Asia — especially within China — have been expanding at a rapid rate to meet new consumer demand for paper products. Sixty percent of the recovered paper con- sumed in Asia is supplied from North Amer- ica and industry analyst Bill Moore says that China's current recovery rate of 31 percent is not enough to keep up with internal demand for fiber. To meet the domestic and international need, large volumes of paper must be collected for recycling. The increased demand requires the U.S. to continue collecting paper via residential collection programs and from businesses throughout the country, which cad be achieved by increasing consumer education with recycling information. Many local agen- cies are examining the pros and cons of sin' gle-stream collection in an effort to increase recycling rates. Critics say single -stream may lower the amount of available fiber because of paper contamination. Broken glass, food and wet paper are contaminants that could reduce the quality of usable recov- ered paper. The paper industry must work with those agencies to ensure the quality of the material in the collection stream. The paper industry's new target can also be achieved by working with our business partners to conduct waste audits and to involve ourselves in new business lines, such as document destruction services. As a com- pany, Weyerhaeuser Recycling is doing these things and more to generate more long-term reliable sources of recovered paper. As an industry though, we need to be in the fore- front of community organizations to promote recycling in our schools, government offices and retail centers. The name of the game is to increase volume while maintaining qual- ity. While recovered papers are nearing 50 percent, opportunities still abound to collect what's still out there. In some parts of the world, the recovery rate is as high as 75 per- cent, so we know we can do better. If, as a nation, we are unable to increase recovery, then we miss an opportunity to con- tinue being good environmental stewards and we do not realize the financial rewards of © Resource Recycling June 2004 ���� Worldwide export demand for .. covered paper 1998-2006 20,000 r 15,000 0 0 010,000 tf 0 a_ - U) U) MQ 0 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Figure 2 Chinese capacity expansions, in million metric tons 5 2003-2005 4 2000-2002 3 � 1997-1999 2 1 p\ f 4 Newsprint Unctd PW Coated PW Cntrboard Boxboard Figure 3 Chinese imports of fiber have soared, in million metric tons 10r 8 c 0 U 6 V W E �4 0 2 0 X Recovered Paper ---�— Wood Pula 1990 1991 19921993199419951996199719981999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Mixed High Grades OMG ON P OCC