Recycled newsprint more than double 2002 rate, says press industry

NEWSPRINT recycling rates have more than doubled in Ireland since 2002, placing Ireland among the top countries in the world.

This emerged yesterday as environmental standards for the press industry were presented to Minister for the Environment John Gormley by a group consisting of publishers, wholesalers and retailers.

One of the main initiatives in the code is that shops return unsold copies of newspapers in full to the wholesaler for recycling. In the past shops would only have returned the newspaper barcode and most of the paper would have gone to a landfill.

Newsprint recycling rates in Ireland have increased from 28 per cent in 2002 to 75 per cent last year.

This initiative was the first time in the history of the newspaper and magazine industry that all stakeholders in the press supply chain had worked together on a common goal, said Frank Cullen of the National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI).

The standards would improve the environmental performance of Ireland’s paper chain, would ensure greater consistency and would contribute to the continued freedom of the press and freedom to publish, he said.

This was not the end, but was the beginning of a long process, Mr Gormley said. The initiative would not just benefit the environment but would be of economic benefit to the industry, the Minister said.

Mr Gormley urged members of the press industry to keep in mind the importance of green procurement which would be part of the revised Programme for Government.The Minister emphasised the cost savings and job creation which could come from green initiatives.

Vincent Crowley, chief executive of Independent News Media (INM), said that there were other steps being taken by the industry to improve the environment such as reducing the use of energy in printing plants and offices. “This process is anything but ticking the box,”he said.

Despite being a Green and being able to read newspapers on his phone, Mr Gormley said that he still liked the “feel and look of newspapers”.