EPRC: Struggling for Standards

Both mill buyers and recovered fiber shippers in Europe agree that they want some universal specifications in place, but finalizing such standards has proven problematic.

After years on the front lines of the negotiations, Dr. Maarten Kleiweg de Zwaan told attendees of the European Paper Recycling Conference, held in Barcelona in late September, that there is still “more difficult work ahead” to complete recovered paper quality standards and definitions.

Levels of tolerance for contaminants and off-grade materials within bales remains a sticking point, according to Kleiweg de Zwaan. “We’ve always had problems with the commingled issue,” remarked the long-time recovered fiber trader who is also the current managing director of the Dutch Paper Industry Federation.

Regarding the task of buyers and sellers reaching agreement, Kleiweg de Zwaan remarked, “I tried to reach a compromise [but] some of our members thought I was too weak.”

The paper industry is stuck between wishing to downgrade or reject fiber pulled from the commingled stream but yet at the same time needing it as furnish.

One proposal put forward in Europe was to ban the use of fiber from the commingled stream in food-contact applications, but the European paper mill group CEPI (Confederation of European Paper Industries) would not agree to this, according to Kleiweg de Zwaan. “CEPI did not want to go this far,” he remarked.

Packers and mill companies are also continuing to negotiate how best to update the EN 643 document, which provides specifications in Europe similar to the way the Paper Stock Industries (PSI) Chapter of ISRI does in the U.S.

Attendees also heard from Graham Moore of research and consulting firm Pira International, Surrey, U.K., regarding long-term trends in the paper industry.

De-inkers and recyclers of the Old Newspapers (ONP) grade may need to contemplate a future with far fewer newspapers, according to one Pira study. Newspaper publishers are facing declining circulations and the same time are using smaller sheet measurements for the papers that they are producing. Beyond 2016, “printed paper products may be in serious decline,” Moore remarked.

In the office grades, a trend to watch will be to what extent office workers continue to print out e-mails and other documents they receive digitally, according to the same Pira study cited by Moore.

At the same session, Loud van Kessel of Smurfit Kappa Roermond Paper, Roermond, The Netherlands, offered a presentation on the merits of plastic baling wire for steel mills.

According to van Kessel, the wire greatly reduces the chance of injuries for those breaking bales open at the mill and also offers a more “trouble-free” presence compared to steel wire in the pulping process.

The European Paper Recycling Conference, hosted by the Recycling Today Media Group, took place Sept. 25-26 at the Hotel Tryp Apolo in Barcelona.