Last year, when I visited China, it was made obvious by our hosts Shan Ying Paper and Cycle Link UK that quality of material was a vital consideration of where they would buy material from.
It was also clear that this focus on quality was not temporary but now a permanent consideration of Chinese buyers.
In order for the UK to remain part of the global market for materials such as paper and cardboard, plastics and metals, it is absolutely vital that we improve the quality of material we send to China. It still remains the key market for UK recyclate by far and it is the responsibility of the entire supply chain that we meet the standards set by China.
But recently, we have seen the National Sword programme introduced by the Chinese Government. And while this has led to unsubstantiated rumours that China would be banning mixed paper and scrap plastics, the reality is that the Chinese Government has been gradually tightening the screw on imports.
First of all, it introduced 100% inspections of all containers in ports using either X-ray technology or manual inspections. This created huge backlogs but material was getting through as long as it met China’s quality criteria.
Prevention
However, over time it has made it harder and harder to get our recyclate into China. In the plastics sector for example, customs officials are regularly preventing certain grades from entering the country. Where once it was common to be able to export materials such as low quality film, now only the highest quality is taken. Even the higher grades are tough to get into the country due to the inspection regime.
This has led to more plastics struggling to find a home, and often is being put into an RDF mix or stored until another solution can be found.
While some have been able to find homes for this material in Europe and other Asian destinations, they just do not have the capacity to take all the material that China used to take.
Paper
In the paper sector, we are hearing reports that all mills are being inspected to ensure they meet China’s environmental protection laws on water, air pollution and emissions, and waste.
If they do not meet the required level, then the plant is shut down. There is no opportunity to improve, it is simply a case that the mill is closed.
In Guangdong province alone, we understand that 33 mills have been closed. This is likely to have an impact on smaller traders across the UK and the world that serviced these mills and may no longer have an outlet for their material.
Paper mills under 200,000 tonnes capacity are also having their import licences removed to stimulate the internal market. Many other mills above this level have not yet had them renewed and this is causing uncertainty.
Future
Some people have said that National Sword is due to end in November and then all will return to normal. Maybe it will. But the reality is that we have had Green Fence before this, and the movement of the Chinese Government appears to be towards ever tightening the rules over time.
In the UK, we need to be ready and respond to the requirements of our largest market. That means ensuring our material is of the highest quality so that we can compete with countries that are already providing the best material to China.
It is now almost a year since we launched the Quality First campaign and over that time, it has become even more clear why we needed to do it because of the introduction of National Sword and the momentum towards ever tougher Chinese Government policy.
Great strides have already been made to get companies to think about how they can improve quality, but there is lots more to be done and the situation in China should really focus our minds.
Subscribe for free