Quality vital for Europe’s recovered paper, BIR is told

Michael Kuhl, president of the European Recovered Paper Association, made his comments as he updated the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) on efforts to standardize material shipped abroad. He said: “We can survive in this industry only if we produce quality.”

He raised concerns over hikes in freight charges made last month after shipping lines claimed exports were costing them money by delaying the return of ships back to the Far East (see letsrecycle.com story).

Mr Kuhl said: “Freight increases have been a source of particularly acute concern in the UK which exports more than 50% of its recovered fibre – with a very high proportion of this tonnage going to China, India and other Indian destinations.”

The Association president was delivering a progress report on efforts to update the EN643 European list of standard grades of recovered paper (see letsrecycle.com story), which would address the issue over how much contamination is acceptable in the material.

He explained that a ninth draft, including definitions of tolerance levels on impurities in the material, had just been sent to the Confederation of European Paper Industries for scrutiny.

Exports

BIR president Ranjit Baxi, also speaking at the event in Warsaw, Poland, said he recognized rising oil prices, the volatility of the US dollar and increased charges for freight to Asia, which took effect on October 1, had all caused problems for the export market.

He said that “exporting is a rather difficult task at the present time” as he reported hikes of around US$ 600 for 40 ft containers, with further increases expected in November and December.

Mr Baxi, also of London-based paper exporter J&H Sales International, noted that Taiwan had banned exports of recovered fibre in August, creating a gap of 50,000 tonnes in China, which now needed to be sourced from other countries.

He said he expected to see the export industry in Africa emerge in the coming years, particularly in Cameroon and Nigeria but that paper exporting industries in Norway and Poland would become increasingly stronger. He said that Japan would also remain a major exporter to China, and had already shipped 1.7 million tones to China in the first half of 2007.

Mr Baxi also called on global exporters to drive up and maintain the quality of their material.