UK paper recyclers too reliant on exports, says CPI

Archiv – The UK’s paper recycling efforts are far too dependent on a healthy export market, according to the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI).United Kingdom | 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 recycles just half – a figure expected to drop in 2007 – while the rest is exported. 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 currently 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 capacity. 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 converted products such as books, magazines and cards which add a further 1.5 million tonnes of material available 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, domestically, we only use just over 50% of the material we collect.’