Plan Aims to Save Newsprint

Think of it as the scarlet letter--not A, but R. As in recycle.

Legislation unveiled by two congressmen Thursday would require the nation’s largest newspapers to use newsprint with a recycled content of 35% by Jan. 1, 1995. By 2002, that minimum would be 50%.

Newspapers that failed to comply would have to print, at the top of the front page every day, a mea culpa : “The newsprint on which the (name of paper) is printed does not meet the federal government’s required percentage of recycled content.”

The regulation would apply to the 56 newspapers with circulations of 200,000 or more. In addition to the published confession, newspapers would face fines of $25 for each ton of newsprint by which their product was out of compliance. The fine money would go to community recycling programs.

The measure’s sponsors are Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), the powerful chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.). The proposal is backed by an array of environmental and governmental groups and waste companies.

“If we are to make tangible progress in protecting and conserving our natural resources and in relieving our cities’ reliance on landfills, then we must promote recycling and markets for recycled products,” Dingell said.

Citing the nation’s two largest consumers of newsprint, he said that each subscriber to the Los Angeles Times, for example, goes through 700 pounds of newspaper annually, and a New York Times subscriber generates 650 pounds.

The Los Angeles Times is the largest U.S. user of recycled newsprint; 80% of its output is printed on recycled paper, according to spokeswoman Laura Morgan. She said the recycled newsprint contains at least 50% recycled fibers.

Since 1991, California law has required newspapers and other users of newsprint to use 25% recycled newsprint. California law defines recycled newsprint as paper made with 40% old newspapers.

That minimum is raised at regular intervals, and will reach 50% in the year 2000.

Some newspapers would have to increase their use of recycled newsprint dramatically to meet the standards.

A spokeswoman for the New York Times said 8% of its newsprint is recycled. At the Washington Post, the third-largest newsprint consumer, 60% of the paper contains recycled material, and the recycled content is 10% to 12%, a company official said.

The recycling amendment was attached to legislation reauthorizing the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which regulates waste treatment and handling nationwide.

The bill is expected to pass the House, but the Senate version faces difficulties.

The publishing industry has complained that there is not enough recycled newsprint to meet demand, so it would be difficult to meet the proposed standards.