I worked for a big Canadian book chain, and the same deal at our store - absolutely no recycling of stripped mass markets, or stripcover magazines. Dumpsters full of *recyclable* garbage headed to the landfill every week. And as employees we weren't allowed to take home any of this "garbage" - as publishers require that stripcovers are destroyed.

Another ridiculous thing is how large quantities of mass market are ordered into a store, hundreds more than could possibly sell.. just so displays, tables and shelves look full. Screw you, Earth - I've got to complete this planogram!

It's a dirty secret, customers don't know about it.. and would probably be shocked if they knew how much waste a bookstore can generate.