Commission will watch to see if paper declaration is for real

The declaration has been pulled together by the Confederation of European Paper Industries.

During the four years it has taken to reach agreement among all the participants there have been long discussions with the Commission. And, the Commission has still not agreed to formally accept the declaration as a formal environmental agreement.

In the past, the Environment directorate has said that it would not commit itself to not introducing recycling legislation for paper. Plus, there have been fears on the CEPI side that the target of 56% by 2005 could then be adopted within legislation by the EU which might set a higher target for following years.

Much seems certain to be depend on how robust approach CEPI takes to achieving the 56% target. Currently recycled paper consumption stands at about 48.7% (1999 figures).

Esa Hyvarinen, CEPI’s recycling director, told letsrecycle.com that it was not prejudging any legislation.

However, sources within the Commission suggested to letsrecycle.com that the declaration is welcome and that it will need to be delivered in a “creditable and dynamic” way. They added that currently there is no paper legislation on the horizon apart from revisions to the packaging directive.

The declaration sets a 56% target across Europe but does not target single countries or specific grades.

In the UK, Ray Watson, chief executive of the British Recovered paper Association, has welcomed the declaration.

He said: “The recovered paper industry has the infrastructure to support any growth in the recycling of paper if additional capacity is brought on stream.

“The industry’s collection rate is above the total material required in the UK and this is exported as opposed to it going back to landfill.”