About us - PNEB - Newspaper and Magazine Recycling

First Plan 1992-1995

The original plan was submitted on December 18, 1991 and endorsed by ANZECC in February 1992. It had two objectives;

Target at least 40% national newsprint recycling rate by 1995
Achieve a collection rate by the Newsprint Producer/Publisher Group of 200,000 tonnes per annum by 1995

By 1995 the recycling rate was 52.7% - well above the original target.

This was a great result and was achieved largely through the following actions;

A de-inking and recycling plant was established at the site of the newsprint mill at Albury and the paper machine was upgraded to accommodate recycled fibre. This meant a permanent annual market of 160,000 tonnes in Australia for old newspapers and magazines.
Kerbside Papers was set up by the newsprint producers to help find markets for the 200,000 tonnes of newspapers and magazines that was expected to be diverted from the waste stream. This helped give stability to the waste paper market by setting up long-term contracts for the collection of paper at a fixed rate.
Publishers worked to reduce waste in the printing process used in the production of their publications by introducing world leading printing technology which incorporated manual and automatic systems to monitor and control all aspects of paper, ink, water and chemistry in the pre-press and printing process.
Publishing companies also underwrote the viability of newspaper recycling by undertaking to use newsprint containing recycled fibre for the first time. This was a bold move as the new sheet was yet unseen and untried.
The paper mills also introduced a number of initiatives to decrease their impact on the environment. This included a commitment to halt all discharge to river by the end of 1996 and instead using the water to irrigate a $10 million pine plantation next to the mill. They also decided to collect all the sludge from the de-inking process, mix it with other wood wastes and give it to farmers as a soil conditioner.
The PNEB member publishers contributed $6 million and set up an Interim Support Fund to assist the introduction of kerbside recycling and to help industries working in the collection and recycling of old newspapers and old magazines. The funds were allocated to state government and local government instrumentalities and private companies on the recommendation of the Commonwealth and State environment departments.
In some states this support helped set up kerbside recycling schemes and secure export markets. In other states regional and remote recycling services were set up in traditionally difficult markets.
In July 1993 an Advertising Space Commitment Program was established where publishers offered $1 million a year to the Commonwealth and State governments to promote the benefits of recycling.
The PNEB members undertook their own advertising campaign to promote recycling of old newspapers and magazines and to provide extensive community educational campaigns through brochures, posters, a video and a website. This material is distributed free to schools, councils, all levels of government, environmental groups, the media and the general public.