Nonprofit, Business and Government Leaders Create Partnership to Increase Recycling of Magazines and Catalogs

Nonprofit, Business and Government Leaders Create Partnership to Increase
Recycling of Magazines and Catalogs
Boston Program to Become Model for U.S. Cities 


BOSTON, March 22  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Building on its strong recycling
record and its high magazine readership, the City of Boston today launched a
unique campaign with business and nonprofit partners to increase recycling of
magazines and catalogs. This first-of-its-kind partnership includes the National
Recycling Coalition, Time Inc., International Paper and recycler FCR, and
creates a model for magazine and catalog recycling in cities across America.

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020701/IPLOGO )

Designed to inform residents that magazines and catalogs can easily be included
with other paper recycling, the "Recycling Magazines is Excellent" campaign, or
ReMix, will help divert magazines from landfills and provide an economic benefit
for the city.

"Recycling improves the environmental and economic health of Boston,"said Mayor
Thomas M. Menino. "The City gets paid for recycling paper products. So, the more
our residents participate, the more the City benefits. It's easy to recycle
magazines and catalogs because we already accept both with our curbside
recycling program. We are honored that the partnership has selected Boston for
this program based on our comprehensive efforts to make recycling part of our
everyday life."

Mayor Menino asked residents who are not already including magazines and
catalogs in theirpaper recycling to begin by simply putting them with their
other paper to be recycled.

For the ReMix partners, the environmental benefit was a key factor in the
decision to sponsor the public awareness program.

"As a committed steward of the environment, International Paper partnered with
Time Inc. to research current trends in magazine recycling, and we discovered
tremendous opportunity to divert used magazines and catalogs from landfills,"
said David Struhs, International Paper vice president of environmental affairs.
"When a joint study suggested that one out of six magazines sold gets recycled,
we partnered with Time Inc. to develop this ReMix campaign to promote the ease
and benefits of magazine and catalog recycling."

International Paper and Time Inc. joined with the National Recycling Coalition
to research major U.S. cities' recycling rates and infrastructures to determine
the ideal location for the launch of the ReMix program.

"Boston is a city known for its long-term, effective recycling program. It is a
great place to kickoff the ReMix partnership," said National Recycling Coalition
Executive Director Kate Krebs.

"According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, about 2 million tons of
magazines are produced each year in the United States, but only about 32 percent
are recycled," Krebs said. "Our national research shows that Americans support
recycling, but they are often uncertain about what can be recycled. That's why
it is so important for all of us -- government agencies, leading companies and
advocacy organizations -- to work together to educate the public. ReMix is a
wonderful example of how the public and private sectors can work hand-in-hand to
increase recycling, not only in Boston, but nationwide."

The program not only benefits the city of Boston, but also is based on the core
environmental values of its major sponsors.

"Our employees use renewable resources to make products people depend on every
day, including the use of recovered paper fiber for the manufacture of a variety
of products," Struhs said. "International Paper is committed to raising public
awareness about the value of recycling all kinds of paper products, and
communities benefit when we can partner with a customer like Time Inc. to pursue
this common goal."

David Refkin, director of sustainable development at Time Inc., said, "We're
excited to be part of this effort to promote and increase the recycling of
magazines in Boston. This initiative ties into the primary goals of sustainable
development -- economic and environmental sustainability and social
responsibility. Boston will save money, and waste will be diverted from
landfills and recycled into new paper products. Additionally, Boston will be
playing a leadership role in findingcreative methods to increase the benefits
of recycling."

"The environment has been an important topic for TIME magazine for many years,"
said Eileen Naughton, president of TIME magazine. "Our editors believe this is
an issue that TIME's readers care greatly about. In addition, a growing number
of advertisers have been promoting their environmental efforts in our magazines.
This initiative in Boston to increase recycling of magazines reflects our
editorial and business values. TIME magazine is proud to be associated with this
partnership."

The partnership members, along with recycling processor FCR, developed public
service advertisements to encourage curbside recycling of magazines and
catalogs.  The ads, which appear in various magazines, including TIME and Sports
Illustrated, specifically target Boston-area residents, thanks to Media Networks
Inc., a marketer of local advertising in national magazines. Boston will
continue to promote public awareness of magazine and catalog recycling through
outreach activities to residents.

"FCR has been in the business of processing recyclables for more than 20 years,
so we know the value of public education in making curbside recycling programs
successful," said Jim Bohlig, president of Casella Waste Systems, Inc., the
parent company of FCR.  "We are excited about the ReMix campaign and its
potential to increase magazine and catalog recovery. This groundbreaking
partnership will add to Boston's already successful recycling program."

The partners willmeasure the recovery of magazines and catalogs throughout the
region. The city will work to help residents take advantage of this convenient
disposal of used reading material that can be recycled into newspapers or other
paper products.

International Paper, the National Recycling Coalition and Time Inc. will
showcase the ReMix program as a model for other U.S. cities and towns.
Currently, paper represents about 75 percent of the residential tonnage that is
recycled by the City of Boston and the surrounding region. However, with
magazines and catalogs making up less than 6 percent of the paper tonnage, the
ReMix partners see a clear opportunity to create an exemplary program that other
cities will want to emulate. The progress of the ReMix program will be presented
in late August at the 23rd Annual National Recycling Coalition Congress and
Exposition in San Francisco.

For more information on the Boston ReMix program or to learn more about magazine
and catalog recycling, call 617-635-4959.

Aboutthe partners:

Time Inc.'s more than 130 magazines reach total audiences of more than 300
million readers. In 2003, the company's magazines accounted for nearly a quarter
of the total advertising revenue of U.S. consumer magazines. PEOPLE, Sports
Illustrated and TIME were ranked one, three and four in ad revenue
respectively.

Time Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., the world's leading
media and entertainment company. Its businesses include interactive services,
cable systems, films and entertainment, television networks, and publishing. For
more information, visit the Time Inc. Web site at http://www.timewarner.com/.

Founded in 1978, the National Recycling Coalition, Inc. (NRC) is a nonprofit
501(c)(3) organization representing all the diverse interests committed to the
common goal of maximizing recycling to achieve the benefits of resource
conservation, solid waste reduction, environmental protection, energy
conservation, and social and economic development. Its 4,000 members include
recycling and environmental organizations; large and small businesses; federal,
state and local governments; and individuals. The NRC is dedicated to the
advancement and improvement of recycling, and also source reduction, composting
and reuse, by providing technical information, education, training, outreach and
advocacy services to its members in order to conserve resources and benefit the
environment. For additional information about the NRC, please visit
http://www.nrc-recycle.org/.

International Paper (http://www.internationalpaper.com/) is the world's largest
paper and forest products company. Businesses include paper, packaging and
forest products. As one of the largest private forest landowners in the world,
the company manages its forests under the principles of the Sustainable Forestry
Initiative (R) (SFI) program, a system that ensures the continual planting,
growing and harvesting of trees while protecting wildlife, plants, soil, air and
water quality. Headquartered in the United States, International Paper has
operations in over 40 countries and sells its products in more than 120
nations.

FCR, Inc. (FCR), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Casella Waste Systems, Inc.
designs, builds and operates materials recovery facilities(MRFs) that sort,
process and market recyclable materials including newspapers, corrugated
cardboard, office paper, aluminum and steel cans, plastic, glass and aseptic
packaging containers. These materials are then sold to various end
users/manufacturers and recycled into new products. FCR provides quality
processing and superior marketing of recovered materials in safe, clean
facilities. The division employs about 1,000 people and processes over one
million tons per year of recyclables at 22 facilities in 14 states.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino made recycling one of his priorities when he first was
elected. The City of Boston (http://www.cityofboston.gov/) built its recycling
program from a drop-off program in 1987 to a citywide, weekly curbside
collection of 30 household materials in 1996, including large apartment and
condominium buildings. Televisions and computers are also collected curbside.
Boston collects and composts leaf and yard waste and provides it to community
gardens at no cost. Boston residents recycled 2,760 gallons of paint and 1,200
gallons of used motor oil in 2003 through the surplus paint and motor oil
recycling program. The annual household hazardous waste drop-off day gets
dangerous materials out of the home for proper disposal at no cost to residents.


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DATASOURCE: International Paper



CONTACT:  Mayor's Press Office, City of Boston, [phone]; or Kate

Krebs of National Recycling Coalition, Inc, [phone], Ext. 23; or Peter

Costiglio of Time Inc, [phone]; or Jennifer Boardman of International

Paper, [phone]; or Sean Duffy of FCR, [phone]



Web site:  http://www.internationalpaper.com/

http://www.cityofboston.gov/

http://www.nrc-recycle.org/ 

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