Editor's Focus--Home Delivery

Trade magazines have been among the loudest voices calling attention to the amazing amount of secondary fiber heading offshore. But as this month’s cover story on Sonoco Products Co. indicates, there is still a market for recycled paper here on the home front.

Sonoco is one of several paper and packaging companies that has emerged as a still-standing and strong competitor from the industry (and plant capacity) shakeout that occurred in the early part of this decade. The mills that have survived are exhibiting a little bit of a renewed appetite for secondary fiber after witnessing a period of decline from 1999 to 2003.

The companies that survived that shakeout demonstrated a combined show of strength in 2004 by producing an increased amount of paper and paperboard vs. the year before, according to figures complied by the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA). Unfortunately, this was the first such industry increase since 1999. The increased paper production also meant an increase in total fiber consumption—wood pulp, recovered paper and non-wood fibers—by the U.S. paper industry to a combined 94.3 million tons. And, the percentage of recovered paper as total feedstock increased slightly to 37.1 percent.

To many observers, it is not end markets for fiber that causes concern, but rather ensuring an adequate supply of mill-quality material. This has caused the AF&PA to target a 55 percent paper recovery rate by 2012.

One potential bright spot could be the replacement of wax as a coating agent for corrugated boxes where a barrier to protect against moisture is needed. Another company profiled in this issue, EvCo Research LLC of Atlanta, offers an alternative protective coating that it says provides the needed protection, yet is mill-friendly.

While procuring additional OCC could help some scrap paper consumers, others are hungry for supplies of office paper—grades that are increasingly being shredded for confidentiality and security reasons.

The growth of the document destruction industry has turned shredded office paper into a critical source of furnish. But is the growth of e-mail and Web hosting diminishing the flow of office paper in its entirety?

The consensus among document destruction executives convened for a recent Roundtable discussion hosted by the Recycling Today Media Group was a resounding, "No." E-mails continue to be printed and paper copies of documents continue to be filed, providing business for document destruction firms and fiber for consuming mills into the foreseeable future.

Recyclers who want insight into critical industry issues such as these should make plans to register for the 2005 Paper Recycling Conference & Trade Show, taking place in Atlanta June 26-28. Attendees can register online at www.PaperRecyclingConference.com or by calling the GIE Media Inc. Conference Division at (800) 456-0707.