The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 13

32' THE BOSTON GLOBE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1989 NEW HAMPSHIRE Publishers balk at using recycled paper By Norma Love ASSOCIATED PRESS 0 v. i dustry spokesmen told the committee. Opponents want lawmakers to wait for the Coalition of Northeast Governors to produce model legislation on the subject next spring. Supporters argue that the fees would not take effect for two years, giving industry adequate time to comply. "The time left on our environmental clock has become too precious to wait for industry to change willingly," said Dean Merchant, di-: rector of a group called the Environmentalist Christian Organization.

Merchant applauded the bill as the "stick to bring industry in line and give recycling a real chance." "The challenge we face is to change society from a throwaway ethic to a recycling society," said Gary Olson, executive director of New Hampshire Resource Recovery Association. Olson said the public sector is forced to pay the disposal costs for goods on which the private sector profits. "The private sector is going to have to share some of the cost," he said. While newspapers should not be penalized if recycled newsprint is unavailable, they should pay the penalty if it' is and they do not use it, Olson said. McQuaid, editor-in-chief of The Union Leader of Manchester.

But, McQuaid said, the bill might mean some mills would convert so they could charge New Hampshire's papers premium prices as a captive market Bickford urged the Legislature instead to consider working "with a task force of publishers to find alternative uses for newspapers to keep them out of landfills. Willmott Lewis, publisher of the Valley News in Lebanon, said one such use that shows promise is shredding newspapers for use as animal bedding. Lewis said the shredded papers decompose when spread on fields. Committee member Elizabeth Millard (R-Boscawen) suggested studying the bill for two years while the state and industry work to improve recycling efforts voluntarily. She said that industries affected by the bill could put in writing what they are willing to do to reduce the trash that flows into the waste stream.

The bill, set aside by the House last spring for further study, will be acted on in the opening weeks of the 1990 session. The bill would: Charge distributors a fee of 3 cents per package beginning in 1992 unless the packages are recyclable or the state environmental services commissioner approves an exemption. Critics say that invests too much power in the commissioner. The bill would exempt reusable containers and packages not sold at the retail level in the state. Products excessively packaged with unnecessary layers would not be exempt Ban certain types of chloro-fluorocarbons, lead, cadmium and mercury in packaging production over the next two years.

It also would ban detachable flip-tops on beverage containers and plastic yoke rings that hold containers together, such as those in six-packs of beer. Require grocers and other retailers to use paper bags unless customers request plastic. Charge a disposal fee on newsprint and telephone books unless they are made out of paper containing at least 40 percent recycled material. The fee would start at 1 cent per pound in 1992, go to 2 cents in 1993 and 3 cents in 1994. Establish a state policy emphasizing trash reduction at the source, recycling and composting.

The fees would go into a solid waste management fund and, after deductions for administrative costs, be distributed to communities fort solid waste management programs. Plastics manufacturers also oppose the bill, arguing that it would cost more in the long run to substitute paper for plastic. Plastic materials cost less to produce, are lower in volume to transport and dispose of, and are more likely to be reused, in CONCORD, N.H. New Hamp shire's newspaper publishers said yesterday that legislation aimed at keeping newspapers out of the state's landfills would penalize the papers and consumers without achieving its goal. Andrew Bickford, publisher of The Telegraph in Nashua, told the House Environment and Agriculture Committee that the bill's call newspapers to use recycled paper was laudable, but that the paper is not available and probably will not be soon because of a glut of virgin paper in the market The two-year delay proposed before the state penalizes newspapers not using recycled paper is not enough, even if paper mills were interested in converting from the production of virgin newsprint, Bickford added.

Although the industry is moving toward recycled newsprint, it could be years before enough is produced to satisfy the nation's needs, he said. Of the 13.6 million tons of newsprint used in the country last year, only 1.8 million contained recycled fibers, he said. New England, only 24,000 tons of the 543,000 tons used was recycled paper. "There's no reason not to use recycled paper if it's available and the price is added Joseph MAINE GLOBE STAFF PHOTO DAVID RYAN A DAY IN THE SUN Yesterday's unseasonably warm temperatures prompted this jogger to doff shirt as he ran along Memorial Drive. He Schools program in N.H.

cited as national model Poll says 5,000 youths start smoldng each year schools into the program was $401,300. This year, $911,000 has been earmarked for the program, which will serve 35 schools. The School Improvement Program helps schools develop fun damental and long-lasting improvements through teams of teachers, administrators, school board mem bers, parents and community volun teers. Currently, 23 New Hampshire public schools are participating. Team members are trained at state colleges and are assisted by facilitator.

Lew Feldstein, president of the New Hampshire Charitable Fund, said at the briefing that the program is effective because it is patterned on management techniques used to im prove the competitiveness of Ameri can companies in international mar kets. Feldstein called the program an example of how a modest amount of money can bring about substantial change in schools. percent of the ninth graders; and 23.1 percent of the 12th graders. Based on the figures, it is estimated that 5,000 children under 18 start smoking each year. The figures from 1987, when roughly 28,000 responded, showed 3.1 percent of the fifth graders were smokers, as were 8.6 percent of the seventh graders, 17.7 percent of the ninth graders and 23.2 percent of the 12th graders.

"We know that student smoking prevalence is significant, that the rates are higher in the upper grades, that prevalence varies by county and that smokeless tobacco does not simply replace smoking," said a statement accompanying the report, which was to be presented to the Governor's Commission on Smoking or Health during a State House hearing last night survey, conducted by Maine branches of the American Cancer Society and the American heart and lung associations. Edward Miller, executive director of the Maine chapter of the American Lung Association, said yesterday that results of two surveys are not enough to establish a trend of smoking among youths in the state. Asked if recent Maine laws have failed to discourage youths from smoldng, Miller said, "This isn't a problem that will be solved by the stroke of a pen." He said more smoking education and enforcement of smoking laws are needed. According to the latest poll, those who smoked made up 2.6 percent of. the fifth graders surveyed; 9.7 percent of the seventh graders; 16.9 i By Laurie J.

Storey 5 CONTRIBUTING REPORTER MANCHESTER, N.H. A year-old -communityeducational program designed to make public schools in New Hampshire more effective was recognized as a national model yesterday at a congressional briefing in Washington, D.C. sThe New Hampshire School Improvement Program was one of four commended at a briefing by the National Council on Foundations. The others are based in St Paul, and El Paso, Texas. I The programs, were singled out by the council because of the public arid; "private partnerships on which they operate.

Each of the programs is funded with the aid of a community foundation. New Hampshire's School Improvement Program is partially supported by the New Hampshire Charitable Fund. The program was initiated last year, and the 1988-'89 start-up costs iijvlolving the integration of 15 The panel is conducting a series of statewide hearings on how to discourage smoking. Officials cautioned against comparing results from the two surveys, since different students and different schools may have been involved in the surveys. The latest survey also shows that 10.2 percent of the-females in the four grades and 12 percent of the males smoke.

At the same time, 71 percent of all students surveyed said they are bothered-by smoke. The highest Bmoking rates among seniors surveyed were in Cumberland' and' Oxford where 26 percent said they smoke. The lowest was in Washington County, where 16.4 percent sai they were smokeri 1 all students surveyed, 2.6 percent said they use smokeless to bacco products, including 8.7 percent of the senior boys, who said they use it at least once a week. The results also indicate that smokeless products, such as chewing tobacco, do not necessarily replace smoking; 47 percent of those using smokeless tobacco also said they smoke cigarettes. New state laws make it illegal to sell or give cigarettes to anyone 18 years of age or younger.

Minors pur chasing cigarettes can also be fined. Another law prohibits tobacco use among students in school buildings or on school property, and designated smoking areas for employees must be away from student areas. Cigarette vending machines must be in areas that are under adult supervision. Tuesday number 8606 TUESDAY PAYOFFS (based on $1 bt) EXACT ORDER By Glenn Adams ASSOCIATED PRESS AUGUSTA, Maine Despite new laws aimed at keeping children from smoking, 5,000 Maine youths take up the habit each year, according to estimates based on a survey released yesterday. However, the survey of fifth, seventh, ninth and 12th graders in, Maine public and private schools also shows a slight decrease in the percentage of smokers compared with two years ago.

In 1987, a similar survey found 12.6 percent of those responding said they smoked. In the latest survey, taken in May, 112 percent of the 22,147 students responding said they were smokers. Sixty-five percent of the state's school systems participated in the JK'. vmM.wi vT cr' 1 0 -J mmaes xmmmwymvmm All 4 digits $4,031 First or last 3 $564 Any 2 digits $48 Any 1 digit $5 ANY ORDER All 4 digits 1 $336 First 3 digits $94 Last 3 digits $188 PREVIOUS MASS. DRAWINGS" Monday 8906 Sunday 3096 Saturday 8046 Friday S338 4563 ummip born.

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