Random House
Launches Initiative
To Boost Paper Recycling
NEW YORK, NY/5/16/06In the most substantial environmental initiative in the companys history, Random House, Inc., the U.S. division of Random House, the worlds largest trade book publisher, has announced that by 2010 at least thirty percent (30%) of the uncoated paper it uses to print the majority of its U.S. titles will be derived from recycled fibers. At present, less than three percent (3%) of the paper fibers used in Random House, Inc. books comes from recycled sources.
Random Houses thirty-percent goal is based both on the guidelines advocated by many pro-environmental organizations and on the companys assessment of paper-industry capacity and recycled paper availability.
Random House expects to achieve its recycled-content goals incrementally over the next four years and has committed that ten percent (10%) of the paper it purchases in 2007 will derive from recycled paper fibers; fifteen percent (15%) in 2008; and twenty percent (20%) in 2009 for its new and backlist books.
In addition, the publisher says that as of 2008 a minimum of ten percent (10%) of the coated paper it purchases to print most of its glossy-stock titles, such as cookbooks or art books, will come from recycled sources, with five percent (5%) in 2007.
Random House, Inc. purchases approximately 120,000 tons of paper for book production a year, with 110,000 tons of this quantity in uncoated paper stock.
Using the metrics provided by the Environmental Defense Paper calculator, a widely referenced index (http://papercalculator.org), the estimated environmental impact of the Random House recycling commitment upon its full implementation in 2010 will equate to the preservation of more than 550,000 trees a yearthe number that would be contained in twenty Central Parks*by reducing harvesting requirements by over 80,000 tons of timber. It will be the rough equivalent of removing 8,000 automobiles from the national roadways, as greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by more than eighty-eight million pounds of CO2. It will also reduce energy consumption by approximately 425,000 million BTUs, commensurate with the power required to serve 4,750 homes.
The great majority of Random House, Inc. newly published titles as well as backlist reprints will contain recycled paper as of 2010. As has always been the company practice, the publishers and editors, together with their publishing operations staff, will determine the specific allocation of recycled paper stock for each title.
These guidelines are part of a newly issued Random House, Inc. corporate policy on paper procurement, which the company has begun presenting internally and to paper mills and to its book-production partners. The policy addresses forest-management issues designed to further preserve ancient and endangered forests, tropical hardwood forests, and high conservation value forests. It also commits Random House to issuing an annual environmental report beginning in 2007 to communicate its progress in reaching its paper goals.
The Random House, Inc. paper initiative will be a multi-million dollar investment according to Peter Olson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Random House worldwide. He said, We believe our new paper policy is the right thing for us to do and now is the right time to do it. We hope major corporations which purchase significant amounts of paper will consider a similar commitment.
David F. Drake, Director, Publishing Operations Projects for Random House, Inc., who has been primarily responsible for the formulation and introduction of the companys policy, acknowledged the support and input of the Green Press Initiative environmental advocacy group, saying, Our evolving conversations with Green Press Initiative and with several of our mill partners have enabled us to develop a sustainable policy and helped to inform the formers broader industry treatise. We can never have enough allies in our paper-conservation efforts.
*According to the Central Park Conservancy Website there are 26,000 trees in Central Park.
Random House, Inc., the worlds largest English-language trade book publisher, publishes many of the foremost and most popular fiction and nonfiction authors in hardcover, trade and mass market paperback, audio, electronic, digital, and other formats. Random House, Inc. (www.randomhouse.com)is the U.S. division of Random House, the book division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the worlds leading media companies. Books published by Random House, Inc. have won the most major awards of any publishing company, including the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Newberry Medal. Among the dozens of Random House, Inc. publishing divisions and imprints in the U.S. are the Bantam Dell Publishing Group, the Crown Publishing Group, the Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, the Knopf Publishing Group, Fodors Travel Guides, Random House Childrens Books, the Random House Publishing Group, and the Random House Audio Publishing Group. Random Houses publishing companies in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, and Korea are publishing leaders in their territories.
