2009 AF&PA Community Recycling Award Presented to Orange County, North Carolina

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The 2009 American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) Community Recycling Award will be presented to Orange County, North Carolina during the Board of Commissioners meeting on May 5, 2009. The annual awards recognize outstanding community, business, school, and college/university paper recycling programs across the country.

“We are pleased to recognize the success of the Orange County paper recycling program,” said AF&PA President and CEO Donna Harman. “Recycling is one of America’s great environmental success stories, providing ‘green jobs’ and giving new life to used products. Continued support of our existing infrastructure – and programs like the one in Orange County – is crucial to our ability to continue to meet global demand as the economy rebounds.”

In 2008, the 128,000 residents of Orange County recovered approximately 8,750 tons of paper for recycling. This success resulted from a combination of education, outreach, and accessibility for residents. The county recycling program includes weekly curbside collection in urban areas; biweekly curbside for rural locations, multi-family units, drop-off sites, and government buildings; and collection from “park and ride” locations and city buses.

Thanks to programs like this one and the efforts of millions of Americans, AF&PA recently announced a record-high 57.4 percent of the paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling in 2008.

For a video and information about the 2009 AF&PA Recycling Award winners, along with how-to guides, interactive features, and additional resources related to paper recycling, visit www.paperecycles.org.