National Wildlife Federation in collaborative effort with McGraw-Hill and NewPage to increase textbook recycling

The intent of the report is to highlight the lifecycle of textbooks, from production through disposal, and to provide needed information and recommendations to various interested sectors on how they might establish a textbook recycling program at their school, university, or in their community. The report was peer reviewed by industry leaders in book publishing, book manufacturing, paper manufacturing, and recycling.

The full report and additional resources and information may be found at www.nwf.org/textbookrecycling.

"This innovative textbook recycling program was a natural fit with National Wildlife Federation's work to promote business and educational practices that are healthy for our environment," said 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. The best practices that were an outcome of this project will be shared with our K-12 schools through NWF's Eco-Schools USA program and with higher education institutions through our Campus Ecology program."

McGraw-Hill has instituted a number of green practices at its distribution centers, 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NWF's new program will focus on helping individual students, schools and organizations recycle hardcover books that are outdated or otherwise unsuitable for reuse.

According to Brian Kozlowski, Director, Sustainable Development, NewPage Corporation, "The project team identified a number of barriers that currently impede textbook recycling as well as a number of opportunities that can materially increase the recovery and recycling of textbooks at the end of their useful life."

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global financial information and education company that powers the Knowledge Economy. Well-known brands include Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts and J.D. Power and Associates. To learn more, visit www.mcgraw-hill.com.

NewPage is the leading producer of printing and specialty papers in North America with $3.5 billion in net sales for the year ended December 31, 2011. NewPage is headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, and owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. These mills have a total annual production capacity of approximately 3.5 million tons of paper.