Recycling survey due Jan. 30

Newspaper printers have until Jan. 30 to respond to the 2003 Recycled Content Newsprint Survey.

Response to the 2002 survey was the lowest in seven years and newspapers could face mandatory compliance if participation continues to drop.

The voluntary, self-reporting survey measures newspapers’ use of recycled content newsprint based on the state’s pre-set goals. Each year newspapers have continued to meet or exceed the goals but survey participation has dropped to below 200 newspapers two years in a row.

Every newspaper in Texas should be represented in the survey and newspaper printers should complete the survey with data for every publication they print.

If your newspaper is printed off-site by another printer ask them to report for you. If you print your own newspaper and other publications, make sure the survey is properly filled out and filed with the state.

All printers should have received the survey by mail from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which oversees the program. Surveys also can be downloaded online. Or contact Diane Barkley by phone at 512-239-6642 or e-mail dbarkley@tceq.state.tx.us.

Only 149 newspapers were represented in the 2002 survey even though there are 530 paid and several hundred free newspapers in the state.

Recycled newsprint contains at least 25 percent of post-consumer recycled fiber.

In 1991, the 72nd Legislature established incremental goals for the use of recycled-content by newspapers.

In the 2002 survey, 52 percent (275,506 tons) of newsprint purchased was recycled-content up from 46 percent in 2001. Of the 149 newspapers responding, 87 percent exceeded the goal for recycled-content newsprint.

The Legislature also set a second goal that newspapers meet if the average (aggregate) recycled content of all the newsprint they purchase meets the set goals.

In the 2002 survey, 48 percent (253,362 tons) of newsprint was aggregate recycled content, up from 34 percent in 2001.

The survey also showed that 86 percent of respondents exceeded the aggregate goal.

Overall 88 percent of the respondents met at least one of the two goals. Responding newspapers purchased 529,282 tons of newsprint in 2002.

TPA and Texas Daily Newspaper Association have worked with the state to design the program rules and provide input and advice.