PAPER TASK FORCE
Duke University ** Environmental Defense Fund
Johnson & Johnson ** McDonald’s
The Prudential Insurance Company of America ** Time Inc.
WHITE PAPER NO. 2
THE ECONOMICS OF RECYCLING
AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRADITIONAL
MEANS OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
December 19, 1995
1995 Environmental Defense Fund
i
Table of Contents
I. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................1
A. Definitions ...........................................................................................................................................................1
1. Solid waste management and recycling terminology.......................................................................................1
2. Definitions for specific grades of recovered paper and other materials...........................................................3
B. Scope of the Paper ...............................................................................................................................................5
II. FINDINGS ..................................................................................................................................6
III. THE BUSINESS OF PAPER RECYCLING...........................................................................17
A. Paper in Municipal Solid Waste ........................................................................................................................17
B. Paper Recycling: Supply...................................................................................................................................24
C. Paper Recycling: Demand..................................................................................................................................25
1. Trends in the Use of Recovered Paper by Mills.............................................................................................25
2. How markets for recovered paper are changing .............................