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Phone Book Recycling Begins

Jun 27th, 2005

Out with the old and in with the new! Phone books, that is. Bell South is delivering 225,833 new 2006 Real Yellow Pages telephone directories in the Mobile area. The company is also delivering 171,843 companion Real Yellow Pages for people on the go who need to know.
As area residents and businesses receive their new directories, Keep Mobile Beautiful reminds everyone to recycle their old ones.
"Old phone books are 100% recyclable," says Bob Haskins, coordinator of Keep Mobile Beautiful, “and the books are printed on recycled paper. Recycling old books into new books certainly completes the recycling cycle.”
The phone books weigh about five pounds each which means Bell South is delivering 1,129,165 pounds of books or roughly 564 tons. The old directories weigh about the same so by recycling we can save a lot of landfill space and make good use of the paper.
The recycled phone books will be collected by Waste Management and delivered to Recycled Fibers at Brookley.

Recycled Fibers will pay Keep Mobile Beautiful a penny a pound for the old books. The funds raised will benefit the Keep Mobile Beautiful Clean Campus Program in all Mobile County public, private and parochial schools.
Recycling old directories is easy to do:

  • Businesses with 500 books or more are asked to deliver their books directly to Recycled Fibers at Brookley. Let them know you are recycling for Keep mobile Beautiful

  • Businesses with fewer than 500 books can use the special bin at the Mobile Recycling Center located at 1451 Government Street

  • Individuals and small business may use one of the conveniently located bright yellow drop boxes located at ten Mobile area Regions Bank branches:



  1. Bel Air – Airport Boulevard @ Sage Avenue

  2. Crichton – Springhill Avenue @ Mobile Street

  3. Dauphin Island Parkway – DIP @ Old Military Road

  4. Loop – Airport Boulevard at Glenwood Street

  5. Hillcrest – 891 Hillcrest Road

  6. Skyline – 4100 Government Boulevard

  7. Springhill – Old Shell Road @ McGregor Avenue

  8. University – University Boulevard @ Old Shell Road

  9. Cottage Hill – 7158 Cottage Hill Road (just west of Cody Road)

  10. University Oaks – Cottage Hill Road @ University Boulevard



For more information about recycling your old phone books visit www.cityofmobile.org or contact Keep Mobile Beautiful at 208-6029.