Recycle Activities, continued

Australia: A World Leader in Newspaper Recycling

Figures from the Publishers National Environment Bureau (PNEB) show that Australia is a world leader in newspaper recycling.

The figures show that Australians recycled 72.4% of all newsprint used to print newspapers in 2001. When unrecoverable newspaper - such as paper used for wrapping kitchen garbage - is factored in, the recycling level is 78%, putting Australia on top of world newsprint recycling rates.

In 2001, almost half a million tonnes of old newspapers and printers' waste was recovered for recycling. Of this, almost 96,000 tonnes went back into producing Australian newsprint. Another 133,000 tonnes was exported, much of it to go into newsprint, and the rest was used for the cardboard and packaging industries.

In 1989, 72% of newsprint in Australia ended up in garbage dumps. Since that time, publishers and the Australian newsprint manufacturer (APIC member Norske Skog) have been working through the PNEB to change this, resulting in a complete reversal of the figure.

Victoria headed the recycling table, with 75.4%, followed by New South Wales on 74.8%; Western Australia on 73.8%; Queensland and South Australia both on 67.1%; the Australian Capital Territory on 65.6%; Tasmania on 51.6%, and the Northern Territory (which is hampered by distance from recycling markets) on 25.4%.

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