As required by Environment Article, §9-1707, Annotated Code of Maryland, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) will assess the recycled content used by the industry as a whole. It is anticipated that the industry will achieve the required percentages and will continue to fulfill the requirements in future years. If the reported data shows that the industry falls short of the mandated goals then, in the following years each publisher will be responsible for individually reaching the goals. Publishers who fail to reach the mandated goal will be charged $10 for each ton of recycled content in which they are deficient.
The newsprint recycled content requirement is calculated on the average over a 3-year reporting period rather than on an annual basis. The "reporting period" is comprised of the current calendar year and the immediately preceding two calendar years (e.g. in 2020, the reporting period is comprised of 2020, 2019, and 2018).
The statutory recycled content percentage, by weight, is 40 percent.
Newspaper publishers in Maryland are required to report newsprint recycled content on a quarterly and annual basis to MDE, on the following schedule:
- January thru March Report due April 30;
- April thru June Report due July 31;
- July thru September Report due October 31; and
- October thru December and Annual reports due January 31 of the following year.
The report must be completed and submitted using the form below (Only Form A, Publisher report, is submitted to MDE):
The following reports can be used by the printer and the mill to help you complete the Publisher report. These reports are not submitted to MDE.
MDE Contact
Christy Bujnovszky , Maryland Dept. of the Environment, LMA/Resource Management Program, 1800 Washington Blvd., Baltimore MD 21230-1719, 410-537-3314, toll free in Maryland 800-633-6101 ext. 3314 or fax 410-537-3321.
