Page 9 from: October 2007
The UK’s paper recycling efforts
are far too dependent on a healthy
export market, according to the
Confederation of Paper Industries
(CPI).
While Europe recycles nearly 90%
of recovered material, the UK recy-
cles just half – a figure expected to
drop in 2007 – while the rest is export-
ed. However, the UK actually uses
far more recovered paper in products
than its European counterparts.
CPI’s Recovered Paper Sector
Manager Peter Seggie comments:
‘Exports have overtaken domestic
usage through 2007. This position is
sustainable as long as there are
expanding overseas markets (as cur-
rently being experienced with
China), but the increasing collection
rates of European partners mean
they will become strong competitors
in the future. Should any issues arise
with overseas demand, the UK will
be among the first to suffer because
of our low domestic reprocessing
level. There have been no further
announced UK closures in 2007, and
some signs of new production capaci-
ty. However, in the short term, the
export market will need to continue
to absorb increased collection levels.’
The CPI calculates that 65.1% of
all unconverted paper and board
stock was collected for recycling in
the UK last year – a figure above the
European average. However, when
taking into account already convert-
ed products such as books, maga-
zines and cards which add a further
1.5 million tonnes of material avail-
able for recovery, the proportion falls
to 57.8% – almost 6% below the
European average.
Mr Seggie explains: ‘In reality,
the UK continues to have one of the
lowest domestic recycling rates in
Europe: 33.9% against a European
average of 56.3%. This is mainly due
to the huge imbalance between UK
production and consumption. The
UK produces less than 50% of its
domestic paper and board needs,
and has a low level of exports. This
means that even with a very high
utilisation rate in the mills, domesti-
cally, we only use just over 50% of
the material we collect.’
N E W S
Recycling International • September 2007 9
UK paper recyclers too
reliant on exports,
says CPI
EPT claims plastics
recycling breakthrough
The ‘Holy Grail’ of plastics recy-
cling has been discovered, according
to the Managing Director of UK-based
Environmental Polymer Technologies
(EPT) Peter Aylmore. He suggests
that a so-called powder impression
moulding (PIM) process can turn
mixed co-mingled plastic waste into a
range of quality products.
His company, which is based in
Bedwas, Wales, has spent more than
five years developing and proving the
PIM process which fuses the materi-
al together rather than fully melting
it. The approach involves the forma-
tion of a core layer surrounded by
two outer layers; according to EPT,
layer properties can be tailor-made
to suit product requirements. Final
products range from shower trays to
bin lids and automotive parts.
Mr Aylmore is currently working
on a project that will enable the PIM
technology to be shipped out to areas
of devastation to help in rebuilding
houses. Abundantly available natur-
al materials such as wood and sisal
can then be used to form the core
section for layering in local plastic
waste in the manufacture of housing
panels. The container itself will be
act as the ‘oven’ in which the panels
are made – thus providing local com-
munities with the tools and means
to rebuild their own communities.
The aim is to finalise the disaster-
area system by the middle of next
year.
* US Shredder
The US Shredder and Castings Group has been selected by Steel Dynamics,
Inc. to upgrade its current shredder system at Rocky Mount, Virginia. The project
represents the second of two upgrade phases at the facility. Under phase one, a
complete stand-alone non-ferrous system is in the process of being installed; this
consists of three Steinert eddy current systems and an ISS system. The second
phase will upgrade the system with: a WEG 4000 HP motor; US Shredder’s
shredder control and management system; a water injection system; a closed-loop
air system; and ferrous downstream facilities. Subsequently, these ferrous facili-
ties will be connected to the non-ferrous system.
www.usshredder.com
* RECY SYSTEMS
German recycling software specialist RECY SYSTEMS, together with
their affiliates RECY AMERICA, Inc. and RECY SYSTEMS FRANCE have
sold RECY software products to several companies: in the UK to S. Norton &
Co., a large English scrap company with yards in Liverpool and Manchester
and to scrap processor Dunn Bros. in Birmingham; Wiederkehr Recycling
Group near Zurich, Switzerland, with multiple companies and yards, Seram
GmbH, a German scrap processor and secondary metal smelter, Remat
Scholz, Romania, Scholz d.o.o., Beograd, with more than 30 yards in Serbia,
RUAG, an electronic scrap recycling company in Switzerland, Kovosrot
Praha a.s. in the Czech Republic, and Zberné Suroviny a.s. in Slovakia, both
with more than 10 yards, GDE (Guy Dauphin Environnement), one of the
largest scrap recycling companies in France.
In the USA, Metal Management Corp. extended its use of RECY software
products from the yards in Mississippi to other yards in Alabama and
Tennessee.
In addition, RECY SYSTEMS announced that it will launch a completely
new version of their ERP system in 2008, and that it will soon open a new
affiliate: RECY SYSTEMS U.K. Ltd.
www.recy-systems.com
Sold!
Port of Antwerp inter-
cepts radioactive cargo
Customs officials at the Belgian
port of Antwerp have intercepted a
load of radioactive pipes. Originating
from a steel mill in India, the pipes
were scheduled to be shipped to a
company in the south of Belgium.
The assumption is that a radioac-
tive source was melted with the steel
in an Indian blast furnace. Once
detected, the pipes were directed to a
safe storage facility – under the
supervision of the Belgian Federal
Agency for Nuclear Control – in
anticipation of final disposal.
Belgian customs was able to detect
radioactivity in the load thanks to the
radiation detection systems installed
late last year at the Port of Antwerp.
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