Paperboard Packaging Council releases white paper

The Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC), Springfield, Massachusetts, has released a white paper on the impact of new consumer recycling methods on our supply of recycled fiber.

Tracing the historical progression of recycling in the U.S., the white paper explains that early dual-stream recycling programs—in which paper remained separate from containers, trash and organic contaminants—produced a robust supply of high-quality recycled fiber, ready for manufacture into a variety of value-added paper products.

Today, however, the quality of recycled fiber has been affected by the growing popularity of single-stream recycling programs, the PPC says. Yet because of comingling with other materials and organic contaminants, the quality of the fiber coming out of such programs is much lower than that of those sourced from dual-stream and other separated waste streams, the organization says.

The white paper goes on to describe how the fiber supply could be affected further by new mixed-waste systems in which recyclables and trash are collected together.

After presenting the economic implications for the paper and paperboard packaging industries, the white paper concludes with information on how converters can help protect the supply of clean, high-quality recycled fiber so important to the paperboard packaging industry.

“PPC is dedicated to keeping members and stakeholders up to date on the latest issues affecting our industry and the manufacture of our product,” says Ben Markens, PPC president. “PPC’s many white papers—including the most recent one on clean fiber—are a key benefit of membership and an invaluable resource for any converter or supplier of paperboard packaging.”

Members can read the white paper at http://paperbox.org/MRF. PPC’s comprehensive library of white papers may be reviewed at the Knowledge Center at http://paperbox.org.  

Now in its 86th year, PPC is an industry association serving suppliers and converters of all forms of paperboard packaging. PPC says it works to grow, promote and protect the paperboard packaging industry while providing its members with resources and tools to compete effectively and successfully in the marketplace.