BOSTON, March 22 -- Building on its strong recycling record and its high magazine readership, the City of Boston today launched a unique campaign with business and nonprofit partners to increase recycling of magazines and catalogs. This first-of-its-kind partnership includes the National Recycling Coalition, Time Inc., International Paper and recycler FCR, and creates a model for magazine and catalog recycling in cities across America. Designed to inform residents that magazines and catalogs can easily be included with other paper recycling, the "Recycling Magazines is Excellent" campaign, or ReMix, will help divert magazines from landfills and provide an economic benefit for the city. "Recycling improves the environmental and economic health of Boston," said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. "The City gets paid for recycling paper products. So, the more our residents participate, the more the City benefits. It's easy to recycle magazines and catalogs because we already accept both with our curbside recycling program. We are honored that the partnership has selected Boston for this program based on our comprehensive efforts to make recycling part of our everyday life." Mayor Menino asked residents who are not already including magazines and catalogs in their paper recycling to begin by simply putting them with their other paper to be recycled. For the ReMix partners, the environmental benefit was a key factor in the decision to sponsor the public awareness program. "As a committed steward of the environment, International Paper partnered with Time Inc. to research current trends in magazine recycling, and we discovered tremendous opportunity to divert used magazines and catalogs from landfills," said David Struhs, International Paper vice president of environmental affairs. "When a joint study suggested that one out of six magazines sold gets recycled, we partnered with Time Inc. to develop this ReMix campaign to promote the ease and benefits of magazine and catalog recycling." International Paper and Time Inc. joined with the National Recycling Coalition to research major U.S. cities' recycling rates and infrastructures to determine the ideal location for the launch of the ReMix program. "Boston is a city known for its long-term, effective recycling program. It is a great place to kickoff the ReMix partnership," said National Recycling Coalition Executive Director Kate Krebs. "According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, about 2 million tons of magazines are produced each year in the United States, but only about 32 percent are recycled," Krebs said. "Our national research shows that Americans support recycling, but they are often uncertain about what can be recycled. That's why it is so important for all of us -- government agencies, leading companies and advocacy organizations -- to work together to educate the public. ReMix is a wonderful example of how the public and private sectors can work hand-in-hand to increase recycling, not only in Boston, but nationwide." The program not only benefits the city of Boston, but also is based on the core environmental values of its major sponsors. "Our employees use renewable resources to make products people depend on every day, including the use of recovered paper fiber for the manufacture of a variety of products," Struhs said. "International Paper is committed to raising public awareness about the value of recycling all kinds of paper products, and communities benefit when we can partner with a customer like Time Inc. to pursue this common goal." David Refkin, director of sustainable development at Time Inc., said, "We're excited to be part of this effort to promote and increase the recycling of magazines in Boston. This initiative ties into the primary goals of sustainable development -- economic and environmental sustainability and social responsibility. Boston will save money, and waste will be diverted from landfills and recycled into new paper products. Additionally, Boston will be playing a leadership role in finding creative methods to increase the benefits of recycling." "The environment has been an important topic for TIME magazine for many years," said Eileen Naughton, president of TIME magazine. "Our editors believe this is an issue that TIME's readers care greatly about. In addition, a growing number of advertisers have been promoting their environmental efforts in our magazines. This initiative in Boston to increase recycling of magazines reflects our editorial and business values. TIME magazine is proud to be associated with this partnership." The partnership members, along with recycling processor FCR, developed public service advertisements to encourage curbside recycling of magazines and catalogs. The ads, which appear in various magazines, including TIME and Sports Illustrated, specifically target Boston-area residents, thanks to Media Networks Inc., a marketer of local advertising in national magazines. Boston will continue to promote public awareness of magazine and catalog recycling through outreach activities to residents. "FCR has been in the business of processing recyclables for more than 20 years, so we know the value of public education in making curbside recycling programs successful," said Jim Bohlig, president of Casella Waste Systems, Inc., the parent company of FCR. "We are excited about the ReMix campaign and its potential to increase magazine and catalog recovery. This groundbreaking partnership will add to Boston's already successful recycling program." The partners will measure the recovery of magazines and catalogs throughout the region. The city will work to help residents take advantage of this convenient disposal of used reading material that can be recycled into newspapers or other paper products. International Paper, the National Recycling Coalition and Time Inc. will showcase the ReMix program as a model for other U.S. cities and towns. Currently, paper represents about 75 percent of the residential tonnage that is recycled by the City of Boston and the surrounding region. However, with magazines and catalogs making up less than 6 percent of the paper tonnage, the ReMix partners see a clear opportunity to create an exemplary program that other cities will want to emulate. The progress of the ReMix program will be presented in late August at the 23rd Annual National Recycling Coalition Congress and Exposition in San Francisco. For more information on the Boston ReMix program or to learn more about magazine and catalog recycling, call 617-635-4959.