European Paper Recycling Conference: On the Rebound

Having survived a situation in late 2009 and early 2009 when some collected fibre could not find a home, recyclers may increasingly be in a situation where they can’t process and ship enough recovered fibre to meet the world’s demands.

In a presentation at the 2009 European Paper Recycling Conference, long-time paper industry consultant Esko Uutela, who works for RISI out of Germany, remarked of high grades in particular, “It looks like there is developing a major imbalance between demand and supply.”

Uutela’s research indicates, in effect, that demand for recovered fibre will be growing on one side of the world (Asia) while supply on the other side of the world (Europe and the Americas) is not growing.

Showing a chart that showed China’s monthly imports throughout 2009, Uutela noted that China’s purchases have been growing steadily, with the only one noteworthy drop-off in buying occurring in August.

Globally, including within Europe, pricing pressure on high grades will occur because of the growth and stability of tissue mill demand at the same time offices and institutions are using less printing and writing paper.

The document shredding business may be a source of additional supply, said Uutela. “Tight supply will call forth more office/security collection,” he remarked.

Eastern Europe also could provide a source of more fibre within Europe. Marcus Ocklind of Sweden-based IL Recycling, gave an overview of that company’s operations and experiences in Poland.

IL Recycling has three plants in Poland that process around 100,000 metric tons of recyclable materials (mostly fibre). The company’s presence makes it the third-largest paper recycler in Poland, said Ocklind, in what is a very fragmented market.

Poland offers the potential for opportunity because of a strong economy—it actually experienced GDP growth in 2009—on the supply side and because it has new mill capacity coming online on the demand side.

Barriers to increased recycling in Poland, according to Ocklind, include a bureaucratic culture and the lack of government incentives or support for recycling compared to most other European Union nations.

Nonetheless, the amount of fibre collected in Poland roughly doubled between 1998 and 2008 and its 42 percent collection rate “is still very low,” Ocklind noted.

The 2009 European Paper Recycling Conference was held Nov. 16-17 at the Hotel Bloom in Brussels.