Paper

Both statistics and forecasts are pointing to increased global use of scrap paper, according to speakers at the Fall Round-Table held by the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) in Brussels in late October.

Esa Hyvärinen, recycling director of the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), hailed the "marvellous achievement" of Europe’s recovered paper sector last year in increasing the collection rate against a backdrop of falling paper and board consumption.

According to his organization’s statistics, collection improved from 43.9 million metric tons in 2000 to 44.7 million metric tons last year, with the collection rate jumping from 52.3 percent to 55.4 percent.

Meanwhile, paper and board consumption fell to 80.7 million metric tons last year after reaching 84 million metric tons in 2000. While utilization rates are "very high" in sectors such as packaging, further opportunities to use recovered paper exist in the graphic papers and newsprint sectors.

Hyvärinen also noted that "decided and planned" paper and board capacity increases in CEPI countries would entail 4.8 million metric tons of growth in scrap paper utilization.