Paper industry urges councils to segregate paper at source

From January 2004, the Federation will relinquish its identity to become a “sectoral entity” within the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI).

In his overview statement, the final president of the Federation, St Regis chief executive Don Coates, said: “The Federation has to respond to its members' demand for more effective political representation and a proactive approach towards promoting the achievements, and improving the image, of the industry. The CPI has gathered momentum to the extent that its full members now feel it is time to relinquish their individual identities in favour of the CPI.”

Mr Coates will become chairman of the Papermaking Sector Body within the CPI. As Paper Federation gives way to the CPI, the industry will be increasingly concerned with the growing collection of paper from the household waste stream. The Federation's 2002 Annual Review highlights the significance of the new EN 643 standard, and the need for local authorities to be “aware of the need to maintain the integrity of used paper products”.

The report said: “The paper industry will increasingly choose to use papers from collection schemes that provide segregation throughout the sorting and storage process.”

UK paper mills are now using 74% recycled paper – one of the highest rates in Europe – but the UK's collection rate, at 47.8%, is one of the lowest in Europe according to the Federation. Despite the fall in paper and board consumption last year, down 0.88% to 12.4 million tonnes, and the drop in newsprint output by 3.8% to 1.05 million tonnes, the Federation still sees a “considerable volume available for recovery from the waste stream”.