Mill closures fuelling decline in domestic paper recycling

Closure of the mills meant the loss of 600,000 tonnes of papermaking capacity. Most of the eight sites – Western Board, Sudbrook, Sappi Nash, John Roberts, a Kruger site, Smith Anderson and Taplow – used a high proportion of recycled fibre.

” It is vital that the UK retains a strong paper manufacturing industry to ensure that there is a reliable internal market for recovered paper. “
– Dr Martin Oldman, CPI
The closure of the mills is reflected in new data from the CPI which shows that in 2006 the UK produced just under 5.6 million tonnes of paper and board, a 7.5% reduction on the 2005 total. And this figure will fall further this year as the full impact of the closures which happened during 2006 bites into production figures further.

In terms of raw material input, UK paper and board mills in 2006 used just under 4.2 million tonnes of recovered paper, a decline of 8.2% against 2005 usage in volume terms. However, there was a little good news for recovered paper usage in that the overall figure remained level at about 75% or material used in the UK mills.

Exports
The decline in domestic usage of recovered paper means that exports for 2006 are likely to be a record four million tonnes with around 75% of this material destined for the Far East.

Dr Martin Oldman, director general of CPI, commented: “2006 was another extremely difficult year for the paper industry with high energy prices causing severe pressure on our competitiveness. After sustained lobbying by CPI, we hope the situation has now stabilised and that UK mills can compete on a more level playing field.”

Dr Oldman added: “In the UK, great strides have been made in increasing the tonnage of recovered paper being retrieved from the waste stream. Currently there is a buoyant global market for this material. However, it is vital that the UK retains a strong paper manufacturing industry to ensure that there is a reliable internal market for recovered paper when the inevitable eventual downturn in export market demand arises.”

Peter Seggie, sector manager for the recovered paper section of the CPI, told letsrecycle.com that the situation for 2007 was still difficult although some of the pressures had eased because of the lower fuel costs.

But, Mr Seggie also pointed to the new pressures on UK mills of rising recovered paper prices. “Energy prices and recovered paper prices are still an issue for some mills.”