Paper recycling in Europe has already reached 56%, meeting a target set in the European Declaration on Paper Recycling. But the full potential for recycling - moving toward the European Commission’s vision of a ‘recycling society’ - will only be met when the different views of policymakers, authorities and industry are reconciled.
 Recovered paper and board are sought-after commodities for remanufacturing into new paper, not onlin in Europe but also for export overseas. photo: Storaenso |
The European paper industry is under no legal obligation to recycle paper and board products other than packaging. However, recycling in this sector is done on a significant scale, and more than half of the paper consumed in Europe is now made from recovered paper. A central driver for this activity has been the European Declaration on Paper Recycling, published by the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) in 2000.
The first target in the Declaration, reaching a 56% recycling rate, was set for the period 2000-2005. This target was successfully met in 2005, the progress being monitored by the European Recovered Paper Council (see box below). Both the stability and confidence in the European recovered paper market have been created by now and recovered paper has become a sought-after commodity on the global market. Paper recycling has also gained a lot more political credibility during the commitment period, helped by increased knowledge on fibre flows and clear best practices in quality management of recovered paper.
Industry trends: a growing market
Throughout the Declaration period, the rate of growth in paper recycling in Europe has been roughly twice as rapid as the growth of paper production. A total of 46.6 million tonnes of paper were recycled in Europe in 2005. This is an impressive increase of 24% (or 9 million tonnes) compared with 1998, the base year against which the target was set. Several European countries are already recycling on a higher level than Japan, a classic benchmark in paper recycling (see Figure 1).
Europe’s paper recycling rate is particularly impressive when one considers that the rate only includes the volume that is recycled into new paper in Europe. Some paper is recycled into other products such as construction materials, and a growing volume of paper is exported for recycling to countries outside the EU; for example, the UK is a net exporter of recovered paper with around 3.3 million tonnes in 2005 (see Figure 2). Furthermore, other recovery options, such as use in energy generation, are not accounted for in the recycling rate (see Figure 3 for broad trends in this sector).
 Figure 2. Trade balance of recovered paper by country |
The co-operation of the different industries along the paper chain has been key to establishing a confident market. By working together, these stakeholders have reinforced the good functioning of the ‘paper loop’, which is essential to the recycling process. This, in turn, has made possible the heavy investment on new recycling capacity, thereby also offering a stronger foundation for new collection services.
 Figure 3. Evolution of paper consumption and recovery in CEPI countries |
The industries have also worked together to maintain and improve the quality of recovered paper; industry guidelines were developed and issued during the lifetime of the Declaration. Efforts have also been made to identify previously untapped sources of recovered paper, such as streams that were landfilled or incinerated; these will be explored in a little more detail later in the article.
But, despite this clear success, the industry is not content to rest on its laurels. A new and more ambitious Declaration has been prepared for 2006-2010.
Raising the bar
The new European Declaration, launched in September 2006, has set a target recycling rate of 66% for 2010. The Declaration was approved by a large number of industry organizations along the paper value chain and covers 27 EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland. Achieving this would mean that demand for recovered paper increases by almost 10 million tonnes in 2010 compared to 2004.
When setting such targets, it is important to consider the percentage of paper that can actually be collected and recycled. If we take into account paper that cannot be collected (such as paper kept in archives and libraries) or not recycled (such as toilet paper and kitchen rolls), then the maximum theoretical recycling rate for paper would be 81% instead of 100%. In practice, however, an ecological and economic optimal level of recycling is somewhere lower than that.
In many European countries, recovered paper collection and recycling have already reached levels where further increase can only be marginal. In contrast, most new EU Member States have started on much lower levels and will still be growing fast in many years to come, both in consumption of paper and recycling. On average, the utilization of recovered paper in Europe is expected to continue growing at a rapid rate over the next five years.
Meeting new challenges and maintaining standards
To date, the European list of standard grades of recovered paper (EN643), published in 2001, has been the cornerstone of the recovered paper market in Europe, and this is likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future. That said, the quality of recovered paper will deteriorate unless clear guidance is given as to how to handle its collection. In parallel, quality demands on the finished paper continue to increase with the rapid technological development of the publishing, printing and packaging industries. This radically challenges the operational framework of the paper and board industry, and the issue becomes particularly acute as most easy sources of paper have now been tapped.
The European paper industries issued the Responsible Sourcing and Supply Guidelines (CEPI 2006) earlier this year. These provide general guidance on sourcing and recovery applications, and list best-practice information along each step of the paper recovery chain. They complement the legal framework and CEN standard EN 643, as well as other voluntary industry standards such as quality control guidelines and good manufacturing practice guidelines. CEPI intends to review the guidelines regularly (beginning in 2007) with the aim of strengthening them both in ambition and in the number of signatories from industry suppliers. European paper mills are expected to progressively use these guidelines when selecting suppliers of recovered paper. And, in time, meeting them is likely to become a fundamental element of the customer-supplier relationship. This will not happen overnight, but suppliers need to start addressing any shortcomings now.
While reliable sourcing lies at the start of the process, changes are needed at all points in the supply chain - these include changes to both the practical arrangements for the collection, storage and transportation of recovered paper and to the overall management systems. The European Declaration provides a natural framework for discussing these issues jointly with other relevant stakeholders in order to find cost-efficient solutions.
Ongoing research will continue to yield advances that support more efficient use of recovered fibres and lower environmental impacts throughout the life-cycle of the material. Two key areas are systematic work on quality management and more knowledge on fibre flows. Furthermore, a European identification system for recovered paper will begin within the next few years. Such an identification system would have two strands: it would satisfy the needs of authorities to track the recovery route of used paper and help to develop the raw material market where sources can be identified as necessary.
An evolving framework
Recycling makes a vital contribution to Europe’s sustainable development, economically as well as environmentally, creating jobs and saving energy and natural resources. The European Commission has stated its aim to make Europe a ‘recycling economy’ and decouple economic growth from environmental impacts. The paper-recycling industry is already familiar with both aims.
In principle, the EU is in favour of recycling, but stakeholders remain concerned over the administrative burdens caused by the EU’s policies. In practice, the current legal framework for paper and board recycling presents discrepancies and contradictions that result in an additional burden for industry without any added environmental benefits.
For example, recovered paper and board is recognized as a secondary raw material by EN 643, but legally speaking it is ‘waste’. This leads to a dichotomy in paper recycling: for the industry it is part of an industrial process in paper manufacturing, whereas for the authorities it is purely a recovery matter in the field of waste management.
An even more vital question will be how the balance between material recycling and energy generation is to be set. With increased cost from requirements such as the European chemicals regulation REACH, the paper industry will not be able to compete with subsidized biomass producers. Incentives for energy recovery are still allowed, in particular for the promotion of renewable energy sources, which are driven by quantitative national green energy targets. The signs of market distortions are already visible.
Municipalities may be tempted to opt for short-sighted ‘lowest cost’ solutions unless European rules give clear guidance on promoting source-separated collection and material recycling of used paper.
Jori Ringman is Recycling Director at The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI).
e-mail: j.ringman@cepi.org
Further reading
For more detailed information on the environmental benefits of paper recycling over other recovery options, we suggest the European Environment Agency’s study on ‘Paper and cardboard - recovery or disposal? Review of life-cycle assessment and cost-benefit analysis on the recovery and disposal of paper and cardboard’ (EEA Technical report No 5/2006) http://reports.eea.europa.eu/technical_report_2006_5/en/technical_report_5_2006.pdf
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The European Recovered Paper Council (ERPC)
The European Recovered Paper Council (ERPC) was set up after the launch of The European Declaration on Paper Recycling in November 2000, with the aim of monitoring the progress made towards meeting the targets set out in the European Declaration. In the second Declaration (September 2006), the industry pledges to further improve its environmental performance and increase the recycling rate to 66% (+/-1.5%) by 2010.
The ERPC consists of several industry organizations along the paper value chain, as well as the European Commission Directorates General for Enterprise and Environment, who act as Observers. The ERPC monitors the progress of the Declaration openly and transparently, and co-ordinates the joint work to achieve the set targets. See also www.paperrecovery.org
The main sources and applications of recovered paper
Recovered paper originates from households (40%), commercial and industrial sources (50%) and offices (10%). In 2005 the collection from European households and offices grew at the rate of 5%, and these sources, not fully tapped yet, offer the greatest scope for increasing paper recycling. Applications for recovered paper are summarized in Figure A, with approximately two thirds of the material currently being used to produce corrugated board and newsprint.
 Figure A. Use of recovered paper in CEPI countries by sector, 2005 |
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Advances in paper-recycling technology
• Paper machines have become bigger and faster over the past years. Modern paper recycling mills can consume 600,000 tonnes of recovered paper yearly.
• Near infra-red and other inspection technologies are enhancing the early stages of the recycling process, raising throughput rate and output quality.
• The recyclability and de-inkability of paper and board products are increasing as a result of ongoing research and development, enabling more material to be reused in paper-making.
 Inside the Braviken paper mill in Sweden. Paper-recycling technologies have been improving over the years. photo: holmen paper |
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