Recycling: into the mainstream.

• Author: Rhea, Marsha
• Position: Leadership in Environmental Initiatives - Special Section: Answering the Call for Leadership

More than just a slogan to spur the general public to action, "reduce, reuse, and recycle" represents a practical way to bring environmental ethics and cost-efficient practices into homes, schools, and corporate offices.

Throughout the 1990s smart businesses will be changing their operations to minimize waste and divert recyclable materials to other uses. Improved production efficiencies and lowered waste disposal costs are the immediate paybacks. But corporations that focus only on waste reduction may miss the greatest opportunity to harness the power of the American marketplace to environmental stewardship.

Recycling is much more than diverting waste from the landfill. It is the process of recovering materials for reuse as feedstock in new products. Recovered materials cannot be simply substituted for their virgin counterparts. They have different material properties and require different processes and equipment to use. Companies that pioneer in these technologies are risking their resources, on the promise of a significant payoff in the marketplace. The National Recycling Coalition (NRC) and other recycling advocates want to assure these businesses that the market will be there.

Already, most federal, state, and local governments have procurement regulations requiring the purchase of recycled products. NRC is attempting to expand this market exponentially by asking American businesses to join the Buy Recycled Business Alliance.

This NRC program is asking 5,000 companies over the next three years to make a commitment to increase their purchase of recycled-content products. The leaders and financial supporters of this massive business-to-business campaign carry sufficient clout to get attention in the corporate boardrooms and executive suites of their colleagues.

In 1993 these companies include American Airlines, Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Bank of America, Bell Atlantic, Browning-Ferris Industries, Coca-Cola, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Du Pont, Fort Howard, Garden State Paper. James River, Johnson & Johnson, Johnson Controls, K mart, Laidlaw, Lever Brothers, McDonald's, Menasha Corp., Moore Business Forms, Quaker Oats, Quill Corp., Rock-Tenn Co., Rubbermaid, Safeway, Sears Roebuck, Wal-Mart, Waste Management, Wellman, and Wisconsin Tissue Mills. Supporting associations include the American Plastics Council, Food Marketing Institute, and Steel Recycling Institute.

No one knows what the purchasing potential of these companies will be, and...