NWF, McGraw-Hill team up to launch textbook recycling program

A new grant from the McGraw-Hill Companies to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) will launch a textbook recycling program, the first of its kind that engages educational institutions and corporate stakeholders with the aim of reducing waste and promoting sustainable development.

NWF's Eco-Schools USA and Campus Ecology programs will use the one-year grant to:

• engage NewPage Corporation, one of McGraw-Hill's paper manufacturers
• de-ink textbook pages so that their paper fiber can be reused in new books
• increase awareness of textbook recycling
• conduct further research on the lifecycles and supply chains of textbooks.

NWF will pilot the program in the K-12 and higher education sectors in Wisconsin and Minnesota with the goal of eventually extending it to other parts of the U.S.

"This innovative textbook recycling program is a natural fit with National Wildlife Federation's work to promote business and educational practices that are healthy for our environment," says Kevin Coyle, NWF's vice president of education and training. "It also aligns with our work on sustainably procured paper, which in part relies on an increased supply of recovered fiber."

Under this grant, NWF will select two undergraduate student fellows from its Campus Ecology program to manage the recycling pilot. The fellows will coordinate textbook recycling events, increase awareness and education about consumption, waste, and the recycling process, and expand the reach of NWF's Eco-Schools USA and Campus Ecology programs.

"This is one of the steps that McGraw-Hill is taking to show its commitment to sustainable business practices, including offering almost all of our content digitally," says Louise Raymond, vice president of corporate responsibility and sustainability at the McGraw-Hill Companies.

McGraw-Hill has instituted a number of "green" practices at its distribution centres, including recycling a majority of the paper recovered from old textbooks.

NWF's new program will focus on helping individual students, schools and organizations recycle hardcover books that are outdated or otherwise unsuitable for reuse.

For more information, visit www.nwf.org

(May, 2011)

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