Re: [GRRN] Office Paper Recycling

[Myra Nissen <myracycl@inreach.com>]

Hi Christine,

This is a philosophical comment based on my perspective on fee for service as it
has matured with my changing roles in recycling - recycling coordinator for a
company, a city, and a sourcing rep for a paper recycler.

I hope the company in question can find a solution to recycling that suites them.

Free recycling service is nice to have. And at one time I could not understand why
a company would charge to recycle because it "was the right thing to do." But that
was when I was a recycling coordinator for a small company and not working for a
paper recycler.

Now I see that market prices (which are low right now), the cost of transportation,
labor, and processing are valid reasons for a recycler to charge for service. (If
the market value for a ton of paper is $150/ton than the cost of creating a
recyclable ton better cost less.)

A company must be profitable in order to continue to exist. I have had small
generators tell me they feel my company should pick up their paper for free because
it is the "right thing to do." But on the other reality is that all the workers in
our company want to have a paycheck and a job.

I am guilty of creating the perception that recycling should  be free. When I was
recycling coordinator for a city I think I spent too much time promoting to the
public that recyclables were too valuable to throw away and not enough time on the
realities of the markets and costs of collection. The value of recyclable material
is not always their market worth but in the avoided disposal costs and the
resources saved by recycling.

Myra Nissen

Christine_McCoy@afandpa.org wrote:

> Hello All -
>
> I had a phone call today from a gentleman, Larry Beiter, who is trying to have
> office paper recycled from his manufacturing facility in Indianapolis, IN.
> Apparently the company that was taking the paper said that they aren't producing
> enough and they wanted to start charging them to pick up the paper.
> Unfortunately, this is not an option for his company, but he's still trying to
> "do the right thing"!!
>
> The company generates about a toter full of office paper every 2-3 weeks, which
> makes the economies of scale a little difficult - not to mention they don't have
> neighbors to consolidate their loads.  Another issue is that some of the paper
> is shredded for security reasons and apparently this posed a problem for their
> previous recycler.
>
> Any chance folks know of some recyclers in that part of the world that would be
> willing to pick up for free?  Larry's willing to work out a strategy, pick-up
> schedule that would limit the number of times the recycler would need to service
> the containers.
>
> Anything you can offer to him would be terrific.  I've cc:ed him above, so
> please respond to him directly.
>
> Thanks so much!!
>
> Christine
> Manager, Fiber Recovery and Utilization
> American Forest and Paper Association
> Phone: 202/463-2777
> Fax: 202/463-5171
> Email: Christine_McCoy@afandpa.org
>
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