China hinting at recovered paper standards

China – National standards for recovered paper could well be on the horizon for China, recycling experts announced at the 1st China International Recycled Fiber Conference which was held in Beijing last month.

‘Chinese recovered paper consumption was only 7.6 million tonnes in 1994 before exploding to 71 million tonnes in 2011,’ notes market specialist RISI, which sponsored the event together with the Chinese Resources Recycling Association. Over the last ten years, China has registered a 260% increase in recovered paper demand.

‘But China’s recovered paper industry is still in an early stage,’ underlined the association’s President Jiang Xingsan, who told the 400 delegates in his keynote speech that low-level competition and the lack of market regulation and industry standards ‘are problems that need to be dealt with in the future’.

Rising fibre collections within China were hailed as a key motivator to embrace recovered paper standards. While some 50 million tons of recyclable paper are collected annually throughout the country, bale quality varies widely, it was argued. According to several experts at the conference, this situation is likely to change in the years ahead – a view supported by an official from the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

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Source: China Daily/Resource Recycling