Verizon to halt delivery of residential 'white pages'

ALBANY - In a nod to technology and the environment, the state Public Service Commission Thursday approved a request from Verizon to discontinue delivery of its venerable residential "white pages" to customers.

Consumers who want a phone book can still ask to have one delivered for free. And the action by regulators will not affect delivery of the Yellow Pages, which contain listings for government agencies and businesses.

The action won praise from one environmental advocate on Long Island, who called it "a big step forward."

The unanimous vote by the five commission members came with little discussion.

The change will take effect with directories slated for delivery starting in January, according to Verizon.

Similar requests by the company were approved in New Jersey and Delaware last month; a request to regulators in Virginia is set for deliberation next month.

Verizon New York Inc. had asked the PSC in May for a waiver of regulations that require distribution of a residential directory to all customers in its service territory. The company said changes in technology - such as Internet directories and cell and smart phones with embedded directories - had made customers "much less reliant on and interested in" printed directories.

The company cited a study done by Gallup for SuperMedia Inc., which distributes Verizon's directories, that indicated use of the residential listings had dropped to 11 percent in 2008 from 25 percent in 2005.

Chad Hume, who oversaw the review of Verizon's request as director of the office of telecommunications, said the staff of the Department of Public Service recognized that not every customer has Internet access or uses the Web. But he said Verizon had addressed those concerns by allowing consumers to receive a phone book if they want one.

Verizon, the state's largest telephone company, estimated that about 5,000 tons of paper would be saved annually by discontinuing delivery of the residential directories.

It also could cut into a growing concern that unused directories - often multiple books left at vacant properties - are adding to the municipal waste stream.

Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment in Farmingdale, said Verizon had recognized "modern technology's ability to replace the over-use of paper." The shift to delivery only on request "cuts down on waste and disposal needs as well," she added.

Esposito said her group has worked with Long Island municipalities on phone book recycling and disposal.

The Product Stewardship Institute Inc., a Boston-based group, has estimated the cost of collecting and disposing of phone books nationwide at $75 to $100 per ton; if they're recycled, the cost is $50 to $75 per ton on average.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated last year that 840,000 tons of telephone directories went into the municipal waste stream in 2008.

What verizon plans to do:

Verizon will discontinue distribution of residential "white pages" directories in January. It plans to:

n Establish a website that consumers can access to look up telephone numbers.

n Attach an alert to customers' bills to alert them to the change.

n Put a notice on the cover and in the contents directory of its Yellow Pages books with information on ordering residential books.

n Establish an 800-number through which consumers can order a free print or CD-ROM copy of the white pages.

SOURCES: Verizon New York Inc; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Telephone directories were recycled less often in 2008 than other paper and paperboard products in municipal solid waste streams nationwide.

Newspapers: 87.8%

Office paper: 70.9%

Magazines: 40.0%Telephone directories:

21.4%