Companies ship wastepaper to the Far East and Europe, where it is converted into cardboard boxes to carry blouses, toys and electronic goods back to the U.S.
'It could become a disaster,' he says. As a result, access to old newspapers, cardboard boxes and other wastepaper has become one of the North American industry's most pressing commercial and political concerns.
Punishment for defying the leadership could be demotion to a lesser assignment such as "the select committee for the disposal of wastepaper," Rep. Dingell says.