US PAPER STATISTICS

NEWSPRINT CONSUMPTION US is the largest consumer of newsprint, using 41 percent of the world supply. Total consumed: 13.6 million tons Imported from Canada: 58 percent (most from virgin fibers) Produced domestically: 42 percent (24 percent from recycled fibers) WASTEPAPER COLLECTION RATES Overall, 29.8 percent Corrugated cardboard, 51 percent Old newspapers, 35 percent High grade de-inking papers (primarily printers' waste and office waste), 36 percent. Mixed paper (unsorted from offices, homes), 10 percent. DESTINATION Paper products compose 41 percent of the total municipal solid waste stream. Newsprint accounts for about 6 percent of landfill space. Of total collected newsprint, 30 percent is recycled back into newsprint; 27 percent is made into paperboard (shoe and cereal boxes); 22 percent is exported; the remainder is made into miscellaneous items. WHAT RECYCLING SAVES Producing one ton of newsprint paper from old newspapers rather than virgin pulp ... Saves 3 cubic yards of landfill space. Cuts energy use roughly in half. Slices water consumption by about half. Reduces air pollution effluents 74 percent. Based on 1988 figures