U.S. paper recycling reaches a record high

Yahoo! News - U.S. paper recycling reaches a record high: "Americans are recycling paper at an all-time high, recapturing 300 pounds per person each year. That's about half the paper produced in the United States.

In addition to improvements in the tactics of waste-paper collection, recycling is gaining from China's suddenly ravenous appetite for U.S. scrap paper. Its hunger for recycled paper is fueled by its own shortage of wood pulp and a mushrooming need for boxes in which to ship its exports.

U.S. papermakers, who need scrap themselves, are struggling to compete against China's mills, which made off with about 6 million tons of American scrap paper in 2004. That's from a total U.S. paper recovery of about 50 million tons. Mills in India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea (news - web sites) also are ardent bidders for American scrap paper. [...]"