Recycling Advisory Council: Final Report on Recycled Paper Definitions, Standards, Measurement and Labeling Guidelines, 1993 Recycling Symposium Proceedings

Edgar Miler

The Recycling Advisory Council (RAC) was established by the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1989. The RAC set up the Recycled Paper Committee soon after and, later, authorized the Special Task Force on Standards and Definitions to study and make recommendations relating to definitions, government procurement standards, measurement and labeling guidelines for recycled paper products. The Task Force engaged actively in this assignment for one and half years. This report and its recommendations were approved by a vote of 10-0 by the Task Force and by a vote of 12-0 (with one abstention) by the Paper Committee. On February 6, 1992, at a meeting in Arlington, Virginia, the full Recycling Advisory Council accepted and approved the full report and its recommendations by a vote of 8-1 (with one abstention). (A ninth vote in favor of the report by the RAC was also recorded by proxy).

Over recent years, many goups have sought to achieve consensus on terminology and standards for recycled paper. The lack of standards and/or the existence of conflicting standards is seen as a significant barrier to expanding recycling and the presentation by manufacturers to customers and consumers of environmental information about their products.