Newspaper Recycling Pioneer Richard Scudder Dies (with tribute video)

Richard Scudder, a newspaper publisher and recycling pioneer, died at the age 99 at his home in Navesink, N.J. July 11.

Scudder helped develop the process to deink newsprint so newspapers could be recycled into quality newsprint, according to an Appleton, Wis.-based Paper Industry International Hall of Fame video tribute. He later founded Garden State Paper Co., which became the world’s largest recycler of old newsprint into new newsprint. His mills were the first successful recyclers of old newsprint.

He also was significantly involved in early curbside recycling programs and was part of the establishment of the National Recycling Coalition, says Chaz Miller, director of state programs for the National Solid Wastes Management Association.

He was publisher of the Newark Evening News, which his family founded. He and partner Dean Singleton formed Media News Group Inc., which became the second largest privately held newspaper group in the country in circulation. He retired in 2010, according to the obituary provided by his family.