Editor's Focus - Checking Them Twice

Magazine publishers will follow trends and mimic what seems to be working in other periodicals in much the same way manufacturers will strive to follow best practices in their industries.

An undeniable trend in the magazine world has been to compile and present list after list. Business magazines have been an integral part of the list mania, with the Fortune 500 and the Inc. 500 being among the most well established magazine lists presented each year.

General circulation publications have also chimed in, with U.S. News & World Report ranking hospitals and universities on a regular basis. Fans of lighter news topics have been inundated with a variety of entertainment and sports-related lists throughout the past two decades, whether it’s the "hottest bodies," the best movies or the greatest sports dynasties. And local and regional magazine editors generally kick up a nice flurry of letters and e-mails when they rank the desirability of their local suburbs as places to live.

Recycling Today has not been above the fray. Before joining the Recycling Today staff, I worked for a regional business publication that used lists as a way to provide snapshots of the key players in the regional business market. One of my goals at RT has been to bring similar lists to the recycling market, adding to a couple of lists that preceded my involvement with the magazine (complete lists of the nation’s auto shredding plants and wire chopping facilities).

Subsequently, we have tried to establish objective criteria to identify the nation’s largest ferrous and nonferrous scrap recyclers, as well as paper stock dealers, scrap paper consumers, material recovery facilities, curbside programs and scrap tire processors.

In an industry as dynamic and widespread as recycling, there are many worthy list topics. In fact, I encourage our readers to let us know what other lists they think can be of value to people who buy, process and sell scrap materials. The one caveat is that we strongly prefer lists with objective criteria, whether measured by revenue, tonnage or another yardstick that creates a list that provides solid market information.

By no means do we claim to be presenting perfect lists. Some companies choose not to participate, and sometimes we simply miss a company that should be included. We are also limited in our ability to audit or verify figures provided by private companies.

But our practice will always be to provide market-focused lists, as we feel that is what best serves readers. For readers who have been hoping to make our list of "hottest bodies" or "50 Most Beautiful Recyclers," I can only apologize and urge them to perhaps lobby People magazine or the E! Entertainment Television network to consider the idea.