Inside Iowa State
Dec. 1, 1995


               What Should You Recycle?

by Anne Dolan
The current Iowa State paper recycling program focuses on 
office white paper; primarily copy and typing paper and white 
letterhead stock. Mixing in other varieties of paper that 
might appear to be "white" contaminates the batch and 
ultimately, affects the per-ton price the university receives 
from the recycler.

Items that should not be recycled through the white paper 
program include:
-- Newsprint. Shorter fibers decrease the overall quality of 
the paper.
-- Magazines. The paper has a glossy finish that must be 
eliminated in the recycling process.
-- Phone books. They contain a lower-quality paper that often 
is recycled into more phone books, usually by their 
publishers. Iowa State coordinates a fall phone book 
recycling project that coincides with the distribution of new 
campus and commercial directories.

White copy paper already labeled "recycled" is recyclable 
and, in fact, about half of the white copy paper sold through 
Central Stores contains recycled stock. According to Gloria 
Erickson, a member of the ISU Recycling Committee, office 
paper can be recycled about a half dozen times before the 
fibers become too short to be re-used in a quality-grade 
paper.

Erickson said the recycling committee plans to look into 
campus recycling programs for newsprint, magazine paper and 
cardboard once the office white paper program is better 
established. Finding a recycler and funding the cost of 
transporting materials to recycling sites are challenges. An 
additional consideration locally is that the city of Ames 
waste recovery system converts garbage to electricity. Paper 
products are an especially "clean" fuel in that process.

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University Relations
Iowa State University