Page 8 from: Edition 5 2017

6 August | 2017
updates
recyclinginternational.com
China and Hong Kong
boost US aluminium scrap exports
The opening five months of this year brought an almost
13% increase in US aluminium scrap exports. Overseas
shipments jumped from 540 239 tonnes in January-May
2016 to 609 148 tonnes in this year’s corresponding period,
according to latest figures from the US Census Bureau and
US International Trade Commission.
The overall increase to all destinations was mirrored by the
spike in Chinese purchases of US aluminium scrap, with
the Asian giant upping its order by 13.7% in the first five
months of this year to 322 415 tonnes from 283 543 tonnes
in January-May 2016. Shipments from the USA to Hong
Kong surged 83.8% to 30 066 tonnes.
South Korea was another major market for US aluminium
scrap, boosting its requirements by 31.9% year on year to
71 626 tonnes. Mexico and India also increased their pur-
chases – the former by 12.2% to 59 122 tonnes and the lat-
ter by 29.2% to 26 546 tonnes. In contrast, volumes head-
ing north into Canada edged 5.1% lower to 45 744 tonnes.
The Green State sees decline in
bottle and can recycling
Known as the eco-friendly US state,
California has seen a surprising reduc-
tion in beverage container recycling.
The recycling rate for cans and bottles
has slipped below 80% for the first time
since 2008, according to CalRecycle,
the organisation promoting recycling in
California.
This decline is attributed to the closure
of many local recycling centres, num-
bers of which have fallen by around 50%
state-wide in recent years, according to a
waste management programme manager
from Sacramento. ‘Scrap value for plas-
tics and aluminium cans and other types
of material for beverage containers has
gone down,’ ABC News has been told.
Another factor is that China, where
much of the scrap goes, has started to
clamp down on the types of material
it will accept from other countries – a
development which has impacted the
price of materials in the USA, experts
argue.
Asia takes 90%-plus
of CEPI’s paper for
recycling exports
The Confederation of European Paper
Industries (CEPI) has announced the
publication of its latest Key Statistics
booklet reviewing last year’s pulp and
paper industry developments among its
18 member countries.
Available to download at www.cepi.org,
the booklet confirms that the recycling
rate for the 17 EU member states plus
Norway climbed from 71.9% in 2015
to 72.5% last year as usage of paper
for recycling edged 0.1% higher from
47.751 million tonnes to 47.792 million
tonnes – equivalent to 46.2% of all raw
materials consumed by CEPI members’
paper and board mills.
The booklet provides analyses of paper
for recycling usage by country, sector
and grade. It also reveals that the CEPI
region’s paper for recycling exports
jumped 5.6% last year to 10.655 million
tonnes, with 9.77 million tonnes –
or 91.7% of the export total – heading to
customers in Asia.
CEPI members’ paper and board produc-
tion slipped 0.1% in 2016 to 90.931
million tonnes, with packaging papers
and sanitary/household recording respec-
tive year-on-year gains of 2.4% and
1.1% whereas graphic papers registered
a decline of 3.8%. Consumption of paper
and board in the CEPI region was 0.3%
higher last year at 77.4 million tonnes.