Weyerhaeuser Signs Deal to Recycle Paper in the West
One of the nation’s largest waste collectors has teamed with a major paper producer to recycle up to 10,000 tons of paper a month, a significant step in developing a market for recycled paper in the West.
Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc., and Weyerhaeuser Paper Co. announced Thursday that they will begin immediately to recycle newspaper, cardboard and office paper collected by Browning-Ferris in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
The agreement does two things: It provides a dependable stream of fiber for Weyerhaeuser’s paper mills, particularly a new newspaper de-inking plant in Longview, Wash., and it helps to assure consumers that their paper-recycling efforts will not be in vain.
“A mill is looking for a long-term supply of quality fiber material, and the economics of supply and demand could change over time,” said Jerry M. Ashby, Northwest region manager for Weyerhaeuser’s secondary fiber division. Some collection systems leave glass and other materials mixed with the paper, reducing its value for recycling.
The deal gives Browning-Ferris added leverage in bidding for communities’ recycling business: In some areas of the country, recycling advocates have been frustrated at seeing old newspapers left stacked in warehouses or--worse--sent to landfills or incinerators. Surprisingly effective newspaper-recycling programs have overwhelmed the fledgling used-paper market.
“Communities are more and more requiring potential recycling collectors to guarantee markets for the period of the contract,” noted Jerry Powell, editor of Resource Recycling magazine, in Portland, Ore. “This (agreement) better positions BFI for some of these huge recycling contracts coming up, particularly in Southern California, Arizona and the rest of the West.”
Browning-Ferris operates curbside recycling programs under the RecycleNOW trademark in 150 cities including, in California, San Mateo, Redwood City, Pasadena, Glendale, Altadena and Santa Barbara.
