Half of used paper generated in U.S. in 2001 was recycled, trade group says
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WASHINGTON (March 12) -- Almost half of the used paper generated in the United States was recovered for recycling last year, the American Forest and Paper Association said.
Recycling rates remained high in 2001 despite declines in domestic paper consumption, the Washington-based trade group said.

The paper recovery rate was an estimated 48.3 percent for last year, up from a revised figure of 45.8 percent for 2000, the AF&PA said.

A key factor in the percentage increase was the overall decrease in mill production of new paper products. Overall recovery stayed about the same from year to year, but increased as a percentage of mill consumption because production was lower, the trade group said.

Mill consumption of recovered paper fell by 1.4 percent in 2001 and 3.5 percent in 2000. Recycled paper represented 38.4 percent of the total raw material used to make new products last year, an all-time high, the AF&PA said.