A recent article in The New York Times, (“Maine Will Make Companies Pay for Recycling. Here’s How It Works.” 7/21/21) explored Maine’s dramatic new recycling law. But it also missed the point on paper recycling. In a letter to the editor, AF&PA responded to set the record straight: Telling readers the U.S. “recycling rate for plastics and paper products” is 32 percent is like telling them the average elevation of Denver and Death Valley is about half a mile. It may be technically true, but it clouds over more than it reveals. Whatever is true of plastic, the fact is that for all paper, the recycling rate was 66 percent in 2020. The recycling rate for paper-based packaging specifically—like cardboard boxes and corrugated containers—was a whopping 89 percent. In fact, more paper is recycled by weight from municipal waste streams than plastic, glass, steel and aluminum combined. In the context of a story about proposals in several jurisdictions that would turn our current recycling system on its head, these distinctions matter a great deal. Extended producer responsibility programs would disrupt the most effective recycling streams in the interest of improving the least effective, while imposing large new costs on producers who are already being responsible by investing capital to innovate and use a highly renewable and recyclable material—paper.

Donna Harman, President and CEO, AF&PA: “EPA’s federal plan and model rules should provide for least-costly implementation possible to ratepayers and the economy, including recognizing the climate benefits of biomass energy. EPA needs to provide more certainty to biomass as a fuel. For example, the agency should list pre-approved qualified biomass fuels so that states know which options are on the table for CPP compliance. Our industry relies on forest biomass and manufacturing residuals in a variety of forms to generate about two-thirds of the energy we need to operate; failure to explicitly list these materials as good sources of energy will result in inefficiencies and unnecessary waste.”

When paper was invented by the Chinese more than 2,000 years ago, merchants quickly became an integral part of its history, taking paper making around the world and helping to develop its many variations and uses. Today’s merchants remain a vital part of the paper chain, linking paper to people and delivering value to those they serve in more ways than ever before. In Values a Merchant Provides, the National Paper Trade Association (NPTA), a long-time member and enthusiastic supporter of Two Sides, spells out important ways merchants add value to the paper chain. These include not only critical operational values such as managing efficient supply chains, developing strong relationships with mills, sharing best practices and fostering creativity, but also efforts that speak to the very foundation of the industry, namely, proactively telling the great sustainability story of print, paper and paper-based packaging. Aligned with these efforts, the paper merchant community supports a variety of organizations that promote fiber-based sustainability options. These include Two Sides, which currently has 29 merchant companies as members.