UK paper recycling increases 7.5%

Archiv – The UK Confederation of Paper Industry (CPI) has analysed paper mill raw material usage and HM Revenue and Customs (HM R&C) trade data which shows solid progress through 2007 in the recovery of used paper products from the waste stream for recycling.
The data suggests that just over 8.7 million tonnes of recovered paper was either used in the UK (46%, 4.05 million tonnes), or exported for reprocessing overseas (54%, 4.66 million tonnes). United Kingdom | The UK Confederation of Paper Industry (CPI) has analysed paper mill raw material usage and HM Revenue and Customs (HM R&C) trade data which shows solid progress through 2007 in the recovery of used paper products from the waste stream for recycling.
The data suggests that just over 8.7 million tonnes of recovered paper was either used in the UK (46%, 4.05 million tonnes), or exported for reprocessing overseas (54%, 4.66 million tonnes). Taking away the HM R&C import data for waste paper classifications (around 90,000 tonnes), CPI estimates the collection of recovered paper from the UK waste stream to be just over 8.6 million tonnes.
This paper and board recycling performance represents greenhouse gas savings of over 11 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in comparison to other UK disposal options such as landfill and incineration.
The 2007 UK collected tonnage was 7.5% higher than that collected in 2006 (602,000 tonnes), and is a welcome rise after the poor growth levels seen in 2006 (3.4%, 261,000 tonnes). The 2007 performance compares more favourably with the growth levels achieved in 2005 (8.7%, 623,000 tonnes) and in 2004 (12.8%, 808,000 tonnes). When viewed alongside the apparent growth in the collection of paper and board packaging2 from the UK waste stream in 2007 (estimated at near 155,000 tonnes3), the apparent growth of paper and board recovered from non-packaging related UK waste streams would appear to be around 446,000 tonnes. However, HM R&C data suggests that significant volumes of paper packaging waste are being exported for reprocessing overseas outside the Packaging Waste Regulations, probably as a result of the excessive bureaucracy of the system and low PRN/PERN values, and means it is difficult to accurately gauge the collection picture at a grade specific level.
Exports of recovered paper rose 707,000 tonnes through 2007, with around 15% of this growth associated with a decline in UK reprocessing (106,000 tonnes) rather than increased collection. The majority of the recorded fall in UK reprocessing was, however, associated with 2006 closures rather than those of 2007. It is expected that in 2008 domestic usage of recovered paper will remain around 4 million tonnes, with exports continuing to exceed UK usage. 2009 should provide evidence of increased UK reprocessing through the development of new domestic papermaking capacity.
Apparent Chinese demand continued to grow through 2007, cementing China as the key second destination for UK collected recovered paper, behind the UK domestic market. China accounted for 28% of paper and board recovered from the UK waste stream, with the domestic market falling to 46%. Europe accounted for 13% with the Far East, excluding China, accounting for the vast majority of the remainder. It is, however, likely that a significant portion of European exports are being transhipped to Far East destinations.
The apparent 2007 UK consumption of unconverted paper and board products declined slightly (-1.4%) on the 2006 figure, from 12.3 million tonnes to around 12.1 million tonnes. This means that the apparent recovery rate for paper and board in the UK now stands at around 71%, well above the European average. However, this figure does not take into account the large UK net trade imbalance in converted paper and board products (much of which will end up in the municipal waste stream), or packaging around traded goods (much of which will end up in the commercial, industrial and municipal waste streams).
Taking net trade into consideration for 2006 meant that UK paper and board consumption actually rose by approximately 2% to over 14.4 million tonnes. This meant that a further 2.1 million tonnes needed to be added to the unconverted paper and board available for recovery that year from the UK waste stream. Subsequently, this reduced the UK recovery rate in 2006 from 65%4 (around the European average) to around 56% (well below the European average). A similar pattern is likely in 2007.
This data suggests that, with the exception of paper packaging which shows an audited recycling rate of 76% within the Packaging Waste Regulations, there are still significant quantities of paper products available for recovery and recycling from the UK waste stream.
Peter Seggie, Recovered Paper Sector Manager at CPI, commented: ’2007 was another difficult year for the domestic paper industry, but exports have risen to accommodate excess material as it became available on the market. The fact that there appears to be solid growth in collections through 2007, after the dramatic slow down in 2006, is very encouraging, especially with the high political and public profile of waste recycling.’
’The majority of untapped recovered paper in the UK remains in the municipal, small business and away from home waste streams. Although there is evidence that this is now being targeted by government, the question of sustained quality of material remains. CPI is concerned that much of the paper available from these streams will be diverted to large scale recyclate sorting plants in the UK which is a high-risk, more problematic recovery route.’
He added, ’Given that a key aim of government is to be carbon efficient, the introduction of energy-hungry sorting facilities will not result in a high net benefit in the overall recycling of paper and board from the UK waste stream. Instead, it will, for recovered paper and board, simply introduce a further processing step with increased risks to quality.’
CPI will continue to watch the development of UK collection with interest, and hope that the development of further UK reprocessing infrastructure is not hindered by a lack of quality recovered paper.