According to the Environmental Protection Agency, for every 500 phone books recycled, 7,000 gallons of water, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, 17 to 31 trees and 4,100 kilowatts of electricity are saved. That’s enough power to serve an average home for six months.  However, only about 18 percent of phone books are recycled every year (this compares to 56 percent of all paper used in the U.S. being recovered for recycling in 2007).

In most cases, phone books can simply be tossed in curbside paper-recycling containers.  However, some regions require that phone books be dropped off at specified recycling centers. Unfortunately, there is not a nationwide standard for recycling phone books.

In an effort to increase the rate of recycling of phone books, we will be adding a recycling section to help educate consumers. Rules and regulations vary by municipality, so our goal is to provide comprehensive information about recycling for individual locales, including contact information for local recycling centers and drop-off sites and a breakdown by locale of materials accepted for curbside pickup.  Keep checking back over the coming weeks for your area! In the meantime, try calling 1-877-88RECYCLE (1-877-887-3292) for local information.