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2006 Ed Hurley Memorial Paper Recycling Award Presented to Mr. Joel Ostroff of Macon County, NC By the American Forest & Paper Association

Posted on: Wednesday, 12 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) today announced that Mr. Joel Ostroff of Macon County, North Carolina has received the 2006 Ed Hurley Memorial Paper Recycling Award. The award recognizes an individual who has had a significant and positive influence in advocating paper recycling.

In 1990, with the assistance of a part-time instructor, Mr. Ostroff organized and established the Terraphile Society at Brevard Community College. The student-based environmental organization was so successful that by 1993 the College was recycling 10,000 pounds of newspapers and nearly 5,000 pounds of office paper each month. The Terraphile Society also became actively engaged in public education and outreach. As a result of its college-wide efforts, the Terraphile Society became the most successful collegiate environmental group in Florida, winning awards from the State of Florida Education Department, numerous environmental groups and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's WasteWise program.

After his retirement from Brevard Community College, Mr. Ostroff began his career as Macon County's Recycling Coordinator. In the five years he has served in this position the paper recycling rate has increased by approximately 35 percent. He has enrolled the five largest schools in the county in a paper recycling program, and plans to incorporate the remaining schools in 2006. Working with local volunteer agencies and the Job Corps, he annually holds an educational fair and a poster contest to emphasize the importance of paper recycling.

The AF&PA Recycling Awards were created to recognize outstanding individual, business, community and school paper recycling efforts. In 2005, a record-high 51.5 percent of the paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling. AF&PA has set an ambitious goal of 55 percent recovery by 2012. It is only through the continued efforts of the millions of Americans who recycle at home, work and school that this goal will be achieved.

Through his work at Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation, and his tireless service to AF&PA, Ed Hurley was actively involved in the paperboard, containerboard, and recycling industries for 35 years. Mr. Hurley was a staunch advocate for paper recycling, and the award in his name is given to an individual similarly committed to promoting paper recycling.

Detailed descriptions and a video overview of the 2006 AF&PA Recycling Award winners, along with additional recycling materials and resources, are available at www.paperrecycles.org.

About AF&PA

AF&PA is the national trade association of the forest, paper and wood products industry. AF&PA represents more than 200 companies and related associations that engage in or represent the manufacture of pulp, paper, paperboard and wood products. The forest products industry accounts for approximately 7 percent of total U.S. manufacturing output, employs 1.5 million people, and ranks among the top 10 manufacturing employers in 42 states. Visit AF&PA online at www.afandpa.org or www.paperecycles.org .

Source: Business Wire

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