EU partnership targets paper collection best practice

Spain – IMPACTPapeRec is the name given to a two-year project financed by the Euro 80 billion European Union Horizon 2020 programme, the aim of which is to boost the separate collection of paper for recycling and also to minimise both landfilling and incineration in countries with low recycling rates. The ambitious initiative was kicked off by global recycling specialists in Valencia.

A total of 19 partners from eight countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Poland, Romania and Spain) will develop a handbook to support the implementation of best paper collection practices. In Bulgaria, Poland and Romania in particular, paper from households, small shops and offices is often collected in a commingled stream. IMPACTPapeRec is said to have evolved from a commitment on separate paper collection in the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials.

Antonio Dobon from Spain-based project coordinator ITENE welcomes the emergence of the project shortly after the European Commission stressed the importance of separate collection in its revised Circular Economy package, launched in December. ‘We will seek for paper for recycling collection practices that allow us to reach both environmental and economic benefits,’ he remarks. ‘In doing so, we will define these best practices and spread them widely in Europe so that other municipalities can adopt them.’