Page 21 from: December 2011
21December 2011
Henri Vermeulen, Vice President
of Recovered Paper at Smurfi t
Kappa in the Netherlands,
lamented that ‘a lot of good-
quality fi bre is lost’.
David Barrio, Recycling Director
of the Spanish association of
pulp and paper manufacturers
Aspapel, highlighted the large
area of overlap between the
EN643 standard list of European
recovered paper and board
grades and the draft ‘end-of-
waste’ criteria for paper in the EU.
Dr Graham Moore, Senior Con-
sultant – Paper at UK-based Pira
International, insisted that the
number of times a fi bre can be
reused ‘depends on how you
treat that fi bre’.
BIR’s Environmental & Technical
Director Ross Bartley: ‘BIR has
developed “Tools for Quality
Management” which is desig-
ned to assist the recycling indus-
try in gaining accreditation to
ISO 9000 level.
Guillermo Valles Albar, Director
of Materials at the Spain-based
Saica mill and recovered paper
group, put forward for discussion
the idea that co-mingled collec-
tions ‘should be phased out’.
David Powlson, Principal of
UK-based Pöyry Management
Consulting, confi rmed: ‘We don’t
believe China can be expected
to collect substantially more
(recovered paper) than it does at
the moment.’
Merja Helander of Finland-based
Lassila & Tikanoja and President
of the European Recovered Paper
Association: ‘Global standards
should come in the future.
P A P E R
ply through, for example, backward integration
and acquisitions.
Dynamics ‘regional’
Among the mature markets of the world, paper
and board demand is expected to achieve a
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
-0.7% over the next decade and a half, it was
indicated in Mr Powlson’s presentation, where-
as the emerging economies could be looking at
a CAGR of +3.2% over the same period. Global
demand for paper and board is expected to
increase by 1.6% per annum but ‘the dynamics
are regional’, he insisted. Packaging would drive
this global growth, with help from the tissue
segment, whereas graphic paper demand would
weaken in the long term, he added.
Recovered paper’s share of the total fibre used in
new paper and board production soared from
28% in 1980 to more than 50% by 2010 – and
there is no reason to believe this trend will go
into reverse, Mr Powlson assured delegates. As
for price patterns, his power-point presentation
summarised the outlook in a single word: ‘Spiky.’
Rolls-Royce product
The newspapers market is widely regarded as
being in terminal decline but paper will still
have an import role to play in the media, it was
suggested to a session of the conference dedi-
cated to the outlook for the paper and board
industry. According to Dr Graham Moore, Sen-
ior Consultant – Paper at UK-based market
research and strategic/technical consulting
organisation Pira International, paper will be
forced to compete with other forms of informa-
tion provision but will become the ‘Rolls-Royce’
among these various formats because of its
‘tactile’ appeal.
As a scientist, Dr Moore also had a few com-
ments to add on the topic that had dominated
the conference, namely quality. In response to
suggestions that a fibre can be reused anywhere
between four and 12 times, he acknowledged
that a fibre sustains damage with each recycling,
but went on to say: ‘The number of times (it
can be reused) depends on how you treat
that fibre.’
And in common with several other speak-
ers, Dr Moore underlined the impossibil-
ity of old fibres ‘going round and round,
and still delivering the same quality’. An
injection of new fibres is absolutely
essential, he told delegates.
Paper contract break-
through for t2e
October 31 proved to be a red-letter day for The
Environment Exchange (t2e) as it settled its fi rst
recovered paper contracts. The spot trade of
two collected loads of OCC at £110 a tonne took
place on October 18 and was successfully set-
tled on the fi nal day of the month. The load was
collected and paid for in less than nine working
days from the initial transaction date.
Launched in March this year, t2e’s on-line recov-
ered paper marketplace covering OCC and ONP
enables participants to place anonymous bids
and offers; t2e administers the entire transac-
tion and settlement process as well as offering
dispute resolution services if required.
Based in Scotland’s capital Edinburgh, t2e has
continued to see growth in the number of bids
and offers showing in the market, its Managing
Director Angus Macpherson confi rmed at the
latest Paper Recycling Conference – Europe in
Barcelona. He believes that many industry play-
ers are monitoring the progress of the on-line
marketplace and hopes that, as more contracts
are settled, they themselves will be convinced
to take part when a suitable opportunity arises.
At the same time, he acknowledged that phys-
ical trading platforms of this type would never
be the sole trading option but nevertheless
provided users with an additional tool.
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