According to the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), the national trade association of the forest, paper and wood products industry, 50.3% of all paper used in the U.S. during 2003 (49.3 million tons) was recovered for recycling, callling it a significant milestone in paper recycling history.
This is a 69% increase from 1990, when 33.5% percent of paper was recycled. Over 80% of paper mills in the U.S. use recovered paper now – about 37% of the raw material used to make new paper and paper products.
In 2002 AF&PA announced a goal to recover 55% of paper by 2012.
In 2003 recovery of Corrugated Containers rose to a high of 75.8%; Newspapers rose to a high of 73%; and office paper rose to a high of 48.3%. Detailed information on U.S. paper recovery statistics can be found in AF&PA's "2004 Recovered Paper Statistical Highlights" on AF&PA's website.
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