It is billed as a unified code that could replace the various individual agreements in place between different companies and different countries on exporting paper from the UK for recycling.
Two industry associations – CEPI, the Confederation of European Paper Industries, and FEAD, the Federation of European waste environmental services associations – are behind the initiative.
They believe it will help enforcement agencies distinguish more easily between legal and illegal paper shipments.
Jori Ringman, recycling director at CEPI, explained: “This is a contribution by the paper recovery chain to combating sham operations in waste shipments that have been using the good reputation of paper recycling to cover illegal waste shipments. A professional tracking system will help the authorities differentiate legal shipments from illegal ones.”
Within the system, every member of the recovered paper chain is required to keep track of their supplier, starting from the original source of the material and ending up at the paper pulper that ultimately uses it.
It will both identify recovered paper recycled in paper mills and make sure material meets both the current and expected legal requirements of waste traceability, CEPI said.
The paper recycling organisation said the system would improve both the supply and quality of paper delivered to paper mills, and further reduce environmental costs.
“This is a major step forward for our industry as it will improve the quality of recovered paper and ensure that the right raw materials are used to produce high quality finished products,” said Mr Ringman.
“This system moves away from the bilateral agreements, varying from one company and one country to another, that have been used by suppliers in the past and replaces them with a unified code which will be used across Europe and which will ensure that the origin and quality of every bale is clearly identified and recorded,” he added.
Register for free to comment