Australia has topped the global list for having the best newspaper recycling rates in the world, according to the Old Newsprint Recovery Figures 2013 report.

As Australia celebrates National Recycling Week, Australia’s major newspaper and magazine publishers have released the national recycling statistics for newsprint in 2013. The report confirms that Australia is a global leader in the recovery and recycling of newsprint with a rate of 78%.

The Newspaper Works executive director environment Peter Netchaef commissioned the annual report on behalf of the industry. Robert Eastment and Tim Wood from IndustryEdge, the leading provider of market intelligence on the pulp and paper industry, independently collated and analysed the data and compiled the report.

The report stated: “The newsprint sector continues to surprise in Australia. Every year, their support and the public’s enthusiasm maintains one of the world’s strongest recycling systems for newsprint. Australia is now almost 10% ahead of most of Europe.”

Netchaef said: “The result is a recognition of two decades of solid improvements in recovering our old newspapers for recycling, and of course it is all those Australians who read and recycle their newspapers that should be congratulated on this world class result.”

Australian publishers of both newspapers and magazines have been working together on advancing recycling of their products for a quarter of a century. Together with the industry’s partner, Australia’s only newsprint manufacturer Norske Skog, publishers have had a voluntary plan endorsed by State and Federal governments since 1992.