Page 45 from: May 2015

45May 2015

national standards organisations,’ he recom-

mended. The same is also possible via the Con-

federation of European Paper Industries (CEPI)

and the European Recovered Paper Association

(ERPA); CEPI is a long-standing member of the

working group and ERPA has recently joined its

ranks. Such a standard certainly would be wel-

comed, although recovered paper suppliers are

concerned that the associated investments in

modernising and retrofitting existing sorting

plants would be solely at their expense.

Free market a prerequisite
Adding to the already long list of concerns for

the paper recycling sector is the lack of under-

standing – especially among decision-makers in

the political world – that waste paper is a global-

ly-traded commodity. ‘Waste paper as a resource

is not available in any part of the world to the

extent that is needed by the internationally-po-

sitioned paper industry,’ Schmidt explained.

Therefore, a balance between the markets would

benefit all market participants – and a free and

fair market was the prerequisite for that. ‘But this

free market is repeatedly being called into ques-

tion by the European Commission as well as by

factions with particular interests,’ he lamented.

Therefore, this is one reason why the industry

has been pushing for end-of-waste status to be

applied to qualitatively processed waste paper

and for the soonest possible elimination of waste

legislation for waste paper, including Annex VII

of the Waste Shipments Regulation.

Sufficient supply of waste paper is a particular-

ly burning question for Europe’s leading coun-

try in terms of recovered paper consumption,

namely German. With its annual demand run-

ning at more than 16 million tonnes both at

present and likely in the years ahead, the domes-

tic paper industry consumes around three times

as much recovered paper as France, Spain, Italy

and the UK. ‘But where can the desired volumes

be found?’ asked Henri Vermeulen, who is

vice-president of recovered paper at the Smurfit

Kappa Group, chairman of the European Recov-

ered Paper Council and a member of the CEPI

raw materials committee. ‘Bear in mind, Ger-

many used to be a net exporter. Those days are

past. Now imports are needed.’

According to recently-published statistics for last

year, Germany’s recovered paper exports

dropped almost 16% to 2.34 million tonnes

owing to increased demand at home and the

cyclical decline in China’s demand for recovered

paper from Europe.

Close to the maximum
Tapping more domestic sources to meet demand

at home does not appear to be a viable solution.

‘The recovery rate in Germany is close to the

maximum limit,’ noted Vermeulen. ‘Clean and

accessible recovered paper volumes are already

being collected. The last “fruits” picked will be

expensive and of inferior quality.’ Furthermore,

a certain proportion of the paper and board

consumed cannot be collected for recycling at

all, such as toilet and other hygiene papers.

Vermeulen concluded that if the deficit

could not be wiped out by an increase in local

collections, there would be a continuous need

for sustainable recovered paper imports. And

once again, the paper expert raised the question

of where the material would come from.

A seemingly obvious answer would be to look at

the UK where half of Europe’s recovered paper

surplus is to be found. Indeed, the UK annually

generates approximately 8 million tonnes of

waste paper but, following the unexpected recent

closure of Aylesford Newsprint, only 3 million

tonnes are required to meet the country’s needs.

But this surplus ‘is far away’, said Vermeulen,

leaving him to cast doubt on whether it would

be an economically worthwhile source of recov-

ered paper imports for Germany.

Furthermore, Germany’s neighbouring coun-

tries can offer no great help. Austria has the

second-largest recovered paper deficit in Europe

while Poland is also quite hungry for material.

This leaves only France and Italy, both of which

are in the fortunate position of having major

recovered paper surpluses at their command.

Europe losing share
Ranjit Singh Baxi, founder and chairman of

UK-based J&H Sales International and honorary

president of the BIR’s paper division, highlight-

Reinhold Schmidt: ‘There is no
more leeway left for further
deterioration.’

Henri Vermeulen: ‘Bear in
mind, Germany used to be a net
exporter.’

‘What we see is a
growing amount of

unwanted materials.’

All the low-hanging fruit has been picked

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