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…consumption, production at eye-poppy lows. Business Week has a comprehensive rundown on the industry, interrelated aggravating factors in this article, Kill a Newspaper, Save a Tree? Not Quite.
But if you’re looking for silver linings on the environmental sustainability front, they slam that door quickly in the subhead: “Print media’s decline is slamming paper producers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be long-term environmental benefits, experts say.” Kinda surprising, because they spoke with some interesting folks in the know. Including our peer Shannon at Green Press.
Maybe it was the questions they asked, because there was no mention of levels of post-consumer content in newsprint or which plants were going idle. Are they virgin or de-inking? No comment on the looming impacts of Cap & Trade legislation, which would hit both the source — at sequestration — and production — at emissions. It would seem that the current state of affairs would offer the ideal opportunity for the next transformational shift towards full-circle recycling, higher levels of post-consumer content and certified sustainable forests.
Also not mentioned were the other major players in consumption, the Community Paper Industry. With at least 65 million copies each week, they’re an undeniable market force. Their circulations are actually growing, and they are most interested in affordable newsprint with the maximum recycled fiber available. If the manufacturers build it they will buy it. There really are silver linings here, if you ask all the right people all the right questions.
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