MRFs and was ‘always damp’, ‘generally dirty’ and
‘always smells’ as a result of contamination with
food waste. According to his company’s calculations,
contraries such as glass, cans and plastic bottles
accounted for 5-9% of these incoming volumes
although other studies indicated the proportion
could be even higher. And whereas the mill’s stain-
less steel slotted screens lasted an average of 18
months in the mid-1990s, their life-span was now
nearer three months.
Echoing a comment made earlier in the confer-
ence, Raw Material Buyer for Spain-based EuroPac
Nuno Messias said: ‘We should be able to reward
and/or penalise based on what we are getting.’
Spanish recovery organisation Repacar was work-
ing with mill representatives in a bid to agree stan-
dards, he added.
Mr Messias claimed that recovered paper quality
had deteriorated over recent years but argued that
the impact had been softened by China’s willingness
to accept lower quality materials. But stricter legis-
lation and rising manpower costs in China would
ultimately change this situation, he contended.
The suggestion that China was prepared to take
a lower quality of recovered paper was quickly
rejected as ‘a myth’ by Wade Schuetzeberg of ACN
Europe in the Netherlands. ‘For our mills, it’s just
as important to control quality,’ he insisted.
Export-led pricing
Bill Moore of Moore & Associates described as
‘inevitable’ the decline in recovered paper quality
as collections headed up the recovery curve. ‘Newer
mills are better able to cope with a higher level of
contaminants,’ he said. And in a closing session
devoted to recovered paper pricing, Mr Moore
added: ‘What sets the bottom (of the market) is that
every collected tonne up the recovery curve costs
more to collect.’
Former ERPA President Dr Maarten Kleiweg de
Zwaan pointed out that recovered paper prices in
Europe were determined to a large extent by the
15% exported elsewhere. The remaining 85%
remained within Europe’s borders. Barring a sig-
nificant economic downturn, the speaker expected
prices to remain at their current high levels, adding
that ‘smaller mills are finding it more and more dif-
ficult to buy at any price.’
In contrast, Mr van Berkel predicted that recov-
ered paper prices would return by the end of next
year ‘to a level more similar to previous years’.
P A P E R R E C Y C L I N G
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Dr Maarten Kleiweg de Zwaan: ‘Recovered
paper prices in Europe are determined to a
large extent by the fifteen percent exported
elsewhere.’
RI_004 Paper:Opmaak 1 08-11-2007 09:42 Pagina 61
