Manhattan Paper Challenge aims to increase paper recycling

Pratt Industries, headquartered in Conyers, Georgia, is providing $75,000 in cash prizes to Manhattan’s community boards to spur the growth of residential recycled paper collection in the borough through a Manhattan Paper Challenge event. The contest, funded by Pratt Industries, has been collaboratively designed by the Manhattan Borough President’s Office, the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board (MSWAB) and the Department of Sanitation New York (DSNY), Pratt Industries reports in a news release announcing the contest.

The challenge will run from July 1, through June 30, 2020. The community boards that achieve the highest rate increase in paper recycling will be awarded quarterly as well as grand prizes awarded at the end of the challenge to the three highest performing community boards. The Manhattan Borough President’s office has worked to facilitate discussions and presentations between Pratt Industries and the community boards that will compete for the $75,000 in prize money that Pratt is providing. 

“New Yorkers have a real opportunity to create less waste,” says Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. “I’m delighted to be partnering with MSWAB, DSNY and Pratt Industries to launch the Manhattan Paper Recycling Challenge to get people excited about recycling again and to raise awareness of the recycling assets that New York already has. I visited Pratt Industries’ paper mill and box factory and was impressed by the rare, 100 percent sustainable closed-loop that turned Manhattan’s recycling into pizza boxes that get used all over New York City. May the best community boards win.”  

Pratt plans to provide regular status updates on a Manhattan Paper Challenge website as well as via social media. Follow along via #ManhattanPaperChallenge on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Some community boards are already weighing in with comments, Pratt Industries reports in a news release on the Manhattan Paper Challenge.

“CB7 is excited to participate in the Manhattan Paper Challenge to increase paper recycling in our Community District,” says Manhattan Community Board 7 Chair Roberta Semer. “We plan to partner with community-based environmental organizations and are in it to win for all Manhattanites.” 

“CB8 supports recycling and this paper challenge,” said Manhattan Community Board 8 Chair Alida Camp. “The closed loop paper recycling program that Pratt Industries provides is an important part of environmental protection. The Manhattan Paper Challenge is a creative way to a further understanding of the relationship between recycling and the environment.”

Pratt Industries has operated New York City’s only paper mill for more than two decades; the mill exclusively uses 100 percent recycled paper, the majority of which is generated through the city’s curbside recycling program, Pratt Industries reports. Once the recycled paper is produced, it is used at Pratt’s corrugated box plants in New York City and throughout many of its other factories in the U.S. to manufacture pizza boxes and corrugated boxes for major companies such as Amazon, Home Depot and Procter & Gamble.

Since opening in the late 1990s, Pratt’s paper mill has produced more than 7 million tons of 100 percent recycled paper. “We continually invest in educational programs in NYC such as the Manhattan Paper Challenge to ensure NYC residents are aware that the paper recycled right in this city is a valuable resource and is used to create high-paying green-collar jobs right here in the five boroughs,” states Shawn State, president of Pratt Recycling. “Our relationship with DSNY, the Borough President’s Office, MSWAB and the Manhattan community boards are critical to the success of this program.

DSNY continually launches public relations and educational programs to improve recycling participation in all five NYC Boroughs. “While most people know that paper belongs in your recycling bin, almost 250,000 tons of paper doesn’t get recycled,” says Sanitation Acting Commissioner Steven Costas. “Here in New York City, all kinds of paper can be recycled, including newspaper and magazines, wrapping paper, soft-cover books, and cardboard. Even mail and envelopes and pizza boxes should go in your paper recycling bin.”

MSWAB has been very involved in promoting the Manhattan Paper Challenge. Chair Jacquelyn Ottman states, “Many of our board members have visited the Pratt Industries’ paper mill right here in NYC, and their contribution to using only 100 percent recycled paper as a feedstock, with the majority of it coming from NYC residents, is an environmental success story that could be a model for cities around the country to emulate.” 

Additionally, Pratt reports that it is delighted that MSWAB has developed multifamily building recycling guides that can be made available as a resource for interested building owners, property managers, staff and residents who want to use this challenge as an opportunity to ignite recycling participation within their individual buildings. MSWAB’s guide is available online.