Asia takes 90%-plus of CEPI’s paper for recycling exports

Global – The Confederation of European Paper Industries has announced the publication of its latest Key Statistics booklet reviewing last year’€™s pulp and paper industry developments among its 18 member countries.

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 production slipped 0.1% in 2016 to 90.931 million tonnes, with packaging papers and sanitary/household recording respective 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.