AF&PA Announces Support for the RECYCLE Act

“The RECYCLE Act will help educate millions of Americans on how to recycle paper and paper-based products, increasing the quantity and quality of paper in the recycling stream." – Heidi Brock, President and CEO, AF&PA.

March 25, 2021 - The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock issued the following statement in support of U.S. Senators Rob Portman’s (R-OH) and Debbie Stabenow’s (D-MI) and Representatives David Joyce’s (R-OH) and Dean Phillips’ (D-MN) introduced legislation, the RECYCLE Act. U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Todd Young (R-IN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Susan Collins (R-ME) are original cosponsors of this legislation.

“The RECYCLE Act will help educate millions of Americans on how to recycle paper and paper-based products, increasing the quantity and quality of paper in the recycling stream. AF&PA applauds the work of Senators Portman and Stabenow and Representatives Joyce and Phillips, who are working hard to engage on bipartisan solutions, and is eager to move this bill forward into law. Providing grants to fund recycling education programs is a necessary step to help ensure consumers can successfully contribute to paper recycling’s success story.

“Our industry is also contributing to a more circular and sustainable future, with more than $4.1 billion in manufacturing infrastructure investments, planned or announced from 2019-2023,?to continue the best use of recovered fiber in manufacturing our products. For over a decade, the paper industry has achieved a consistently high recycling rate, meeting or exceeding 63 percent each year — a rate that’s nearly doubled since 1990, when we first set a paper recycling goal.”

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) serves to advance a sustainable U.S. pulp, paper, packaging, tissue and wood products manufacturing industry through fact-based public policy and marketplace advocacy. AF&PA member companies make products essential for everyday life from renewable and recyclable resources and are committed to continuous improvement through the industry's sustainability initiative — Better Practices, Better Planet 2020.

The forest products industry accounts for approximately four percent of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, manufactures approximately $300 billion in products annually, and employs nearly 950,000 men and women. The industry meets a payroll of approximately $55 billion annually and is among the top 10 manufacturing sector employers in 45 states. Visit AF&PA online at www.afandpa.org or follow AF&PA on Twitter @ForestandPaper.

SOURCE: AF&PA