For Immediate Release

Public Relations Division
Public Affairs Department
1170 Eighth Avenue
Bethlehem, PA 18016-7699
(610) 694-3711 - Phone
(610) 694-1509 - Fax

WASHINGTON, September 9, 1998 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will honor Bethlehem Steel Corporation this evening as a program champion in the agency's nationwide WasteWise effort that seeks to reduce municipal wastes.

The WasteWise program was first launched in 1994 as a voluntary partnership designed to help businesses find practical methods for reducing municipal solid waste. More than 800 organizations currently participate in the program, with a third of the membership drawn from Fortune 1000 manufacturing or service firms.

Bethlehem Steel was credited with implementing an electronic data interchange system to replace forms and generate fewer written reports, conserving more than 11,000 pounds of paper and substantially reducing paper purchases. Bethlehem also has expanded the use of e-mail, eliminating more than 17,000 pounds of paper. Bethlehem is also credited with using 30 percent recycled steel scrap in producing tinplate steel for the manufacture of steel cans, consuming in the process more than 125 million pounds of this post-consumer material in 1997.

Overall in 1997, WasteWise partners diverted 816,305 tons of material from landfills or municipal waste combustors through waste prevention. This is an 80- percent increase over the previous year. WasteWise partners also helped create a thriving, sustainable market for recycled products by spending nearly $2.8 million on the purchase of more than 900,000 tons of recycled-content products.

A charter member of WasteWise, Bethlehem received a similar award from EPA in 1996.