Paper for recycling: CEPI updates quality control guidelines

Europe – Reflecting the increasing trend among paper companies to use technical measurement in their control procedures, the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) has published an updated version of the ‘Paper for Recycling – quality control guidelines’.

According to the industry body, the updated version is the result of ‘sustained industry consultation’ and is ‘a step towards achieving a harmonised approach on quality control and measurement’. It covers, for example, instrumental analysis via automatic NIR sensor as well as instrumental analysis via automatic microwave sensor.

The guidelines put strong emphasis on the inspection procedure for quality control at the paper mill and explain what controllers should consider during an inspection in order to decide if a load should be accepted, conditionally accepted or refused.

‘The focus on quality is crucial for the functioning of secondary raw material markets and makes paper recycling a role model for the circular economy,’ comments Massimo Medugno, director general of Assocarta, CEPI’s member organisation representing Italy’s paper industry.

The guidelines were first launched in April 2016 with the objective of improving the implementation of the revised EN 643 standard and to facilitate commercial relationships of paper mills with their suppliers of paper for recycling.