WE RECYCLE:

• magazines
• catalogs
• junk mail
• pamphlets
• brochures
• paper back books
• glossy paper
• envelopes with plastic windows
• tablet backs

WE DO NOT RECYCLE:

• tissue paper
• food or candy wrappers, napkins, paper cups, any paper product contaminated by grease or food residue (ex. pizza boxes).
• coated fax paper, carbon paper, blueprints.
• wax paper, plastic shrink wraps, plastic or metal bindings.
• commercial wrapping or decorated papers for wrapping presents
• hanging file folders (the Recycling Team will pick them up for reuse in other departments)

If these items are not reusable, they are not recyclable and should be thrown away with the regular trash. If the metal bindings can be removed, they can be recycled with metal.

WHERE TO RECYCLE:

• Bundles of magazines and catalogs may be left beside corridor recycling containers
• Small amounts of magazines and catalogs may be put into the newspaper recycling bins (please, never in the office paper). Mixed paper is then sorted out by hand at the recycling center.

FACTS ABOUT MAGAZINES & MIXED PAPER:

• Every year, nearly 17 billion catalogs are mailed to American consumers or 59 catalogs for every woman, man, and child in the U.S. Catalog sales were $118 billion last year in 2001 but very few of the catalog companies used any recycled paper.  According to a 14 Nov 02 news article in the Sacramento Bee, the Environmental Defense is urging people to contact their catalog companies about increasing the use of recycled paper.
• The magazine publishing and distribution industries display twice as many copies of magazines at newstands and retail outlets as are purchased. As a result, almost 50% of all magazines are returned, shredded, recycled, or disposed of without a single consumer use.
• Glossy paper is virgin or recycled paper covered on one or both sides with a clay coating. This produces either a glossy or matte finish, and somewhat sharper images.
• When recycled, the clay in glossy paper binds with ink and reduces brightness in the recycled products from mixed paper. Consequently, shiny paper has less value as a recycled commodity. The UST Recycling Team separates mixed paper from office or ledger paper in order to get the best market price for our paper recycling. Glossy paper is still recycled, but at present, we receive no money for glossy paper.
• Mixed paper (glossy paper, catalogs, window envelopes, junk mail, etc.) is used to make products such as packaging boxes for cereal, crackers, cake mixes, and detergent; department store gift boxes; brown paper towels; paper towel rolls; tablet backs.
• Holiday and birthday gift wrapping or tissue paper cannot be recycled. Most wrapping papers have some kind of decoration, coating, foil, glitter or other additives that make them difficult to recycle. The fibers in tissue paper are too short to be recycled into new paper. Avoid using nonrecyclable wrappings and instead use reusable containers, boxes or bags to present your gifts.
• Do you have unwanted magazines available for recycling? Bridge to Asia, a nonprofit that sends donated reading materials to libraries in developing countries, can get your unwanted magazines to countries such as China, Vietnam, Laos, Mongolia, and Cambodia. They are particularly interested in "information-rich" magazines such as National Geographic, American Scholar, Atlantic, Commonweal, Economist, The Nation, New England Journal of Medicine, New Yorker, Science, and the Smithsonian. Send your magazines (in the west U.S.) to Bridge to Asia, c/o Osgood Warehouse Services, Pier 23, San Francisco, CA 94111 or (in the east U.S.) c/o Follett Campus Resources, 2211 West Street, Suite F, River Grove IL 60171-1800
• By some estimates four million tons of junk mail is mailed to Americans every year; of that total, 44% of all junk mail is thrown in the trash, unopened and unread. As much as 3% of the volume of U.S. landfills is filled with junk mail.
• Mailing lists are sold by many mail-order companies, credit card companies and magazine subscription departments. Even the postal service sells address lists of people who have recently moved. It is not easy to get off of some of the lists. The National Waste Prevention Coalition Junk Mail Reduction Project has an excellent site for an answer to the question, "What can I do to receive less unwanted mail?"
• To to get your name removed from the mailing lists of members of the Direct Marketing Association, send a letter or postcard with your name and address and a note requesting to be removed from their member list:
  Mail Preference Service
  Direct Marketing Association
  PO Box 9008
  Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
  It is important to check the labels on your mail to include all variations of your name when requesting that it be removed from direct marketing lists. Lists are updated quarterly so it may take a while to notice a reduction in your volume of mail. Your request is good for five years.

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