Setting Goals and Marking Progress

There are very few beliefs that the majority of us hold in common.  Among those – recycling is good.  When America’s forest products industry established a goal that by 1990, 33.5% of all paper and paper-related packaging consumed in the country would be recovered, few believed it was possible.

That early goal was quickly met and replaced by an even more aggressive one that would see a 50% recovery rate.  That too is in the rear-view mirror.  In fact, in 2011, the American Forest & Paper Association reports that 66.8% of paper was recovered for reuse…an all-time high.  This puts the industry well on its way to achieving its most recent goal – 70% recovery by 2020.

Incremental Goal and Celebrating Successes
If in the mid-80’s industry had set a goal of 100% recovery, such would either been ludicrous or it would have been so far into the future as to be irrelevant.  As someone who picks up litter in my neighborhood and my favorite walking trail weekly, I too would like to see such progress.  But, let’s put things into perspective. 

Is it really possible to recover and reuse 100% of something with such a low value as an individual magazine or scrap of paper?  One need only consider the numbers of cans and bottles – each that carry a deposit return premium – that remain on the roadside to assess the height of that mountain.

Regardless, American consumers and our partners in the forest products industry shouldn’t lose sleep over the road left to travel.  Rather, we should celebrate in the great progress that has been made.  In a country as large and diverse as the U.S., to have achieved a recovery rate of more than 2/3rds is worthy of a moment’s notice and celebration!  Too, unlike the scattering of “bottle bills” designed to advance recovery and recapture of cans and bottles, most of the paper victory has come as the result of an enlightened public and an industry that has found economically-viable ways to collect a former waste product and convert it to a range of useful new products – from tissues to renewable energy.