Virgin magazine paper production also uses enormous amounts of energy and water, and produces considerably more pollution than ecological paper alternatives. Less than 5 percent of magazine paper has any recycled content, and even these recycled content papers generally contain only 10-30 percent recycled fiber. Almost all magazine papers have been bleached with chlorine or chlorine compounds, which produce extremely toxic dioxin. The vast majority of magazines are discarded within one year, and few of these are recycled. Approximately 90 percent of all magazines are discarded within a year of publication, and only about 20 percent of these are recycled.
Overproduction is a key factor in magazine industry wastefulness.
The magazine industry's impact on the environment is compounded by systems that reward the industry for overproduction of publications. These inefficiencies are particularly apparent in magazines sold on newsstands, versus those sold by subscription. Inefficiencies begin with the publisher deliberately overproducing magazines to maximize advertising rates and are compounded by distributors over-ordering to ensure that no magazine rack is ever empty. Almost 3 billion magazines on newsstands are never read. About 4.7 billion magazines are delivered to newsstands each year.