The amount of paper collected in a curbside program may be a
dangerous statistic to use, given the great variance in the size of the
newspapers from big cities to medium villages to small towns. Also,
some programs collect just newspapers, while others include
magazines, corrugated cardboard and mixed paper. A better statistic
may be what percentage of available paper is being collected by a
curbside program.
Given this precaution, the CIty of Madison, population 200,000, collected
9,500 tons of newspapers, magazines and corrugated cardboard from
about 60,000 households, which is probably around 160,000 people.
This does not include the amount of paper that people take directly to
one of the private recycling centers in town (such as I and many others
often do, since they also accept mixed paper).
The percentage of recovery is a bit more complicated to calculate for
Madison. Based on a waste composition analysis that we did of our
solid waste a few years ago, there are an estimated 4,000 tons of
newspapers, magazines and corrugated cardboard still in the residential
waste stream of the city. Thus, the recycling rate is somewhat above
70%.
Hope these data help.
John Reindl, Recycling Manager
Dane County, WI
> I need an estimate on the amount of paper the average person sets out in a
> curbside program on a per week/month/year basis, (tons of paper collected
> per thousand homes served). This data does not exist at the national
> level. If anyone can direct me to such information at a state or local
> level it would be appreciated. Even getting such information about a
> small number of local programs would be extremely helpful.
>
> Pablo Collins
>
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reindl@co.dane.wi.us
(608)267-1533 - fax
(608)267-8815 - phone