NAA Public Policy News, Jan. 2006

NAA Completes Recycled-Fiber Newsprint Survey

As part of an on-going voluntary agreement with the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC), an organization of state legislators and recycling coordinators in the Northeast U.S., NAA recently completed a survey of newspapers to determine the amount of recycled-fiber content used in newsprint consumed in 2004.

The newsprint consumption survey was distributed to over 200 newspapers with various sizes of circulation. The survey found that newspapers in the Northeast consumed newsprint containing, on an aggregate basis, 29 percent recycled fiber content. This figure for the Northeast compared to a 35 percent recycled fiber content rate for all newsprint consumed by U.S. daily newspapers.

NERC is pleased with the results and with NAA’s leadership in obtaining the information from its members. As a result of the newspaper publisher agreement with NERC, state governments in the Northeast have moved away from strict mandatory purchasing requirements in favor of voluntary approaches.