Commitment to 70% Recycling Rate by EU Paper Industry

17 October 2011 The European Declaration on Paper Recycling 2011-2015 has been launched by launched by Ulrich Höke, European Recovered Paper Council (ERPC) chairman, and Soledad Blanco, Director at the European Commission, DG Environment. Unveiled at the recent European Paper Recycling Awards in the European Parliament, the declaration sets out measures to optimise the management of paper throughout the value chain. The ERPC was set up after the launch of the first 'European Declaration on Paper Recovery' as an industry own-initiative in November 2000 to monitor the progress made towards meeting the targets set out in the Declaration. Industries covered by the Declaration include paper and board manufacturers, converters and printers, as well as those involved in the collection, sorting, transportation and recycling of waste paper and board products back into the paper loop. All 12 signatories and supporters of this Declaration say that they are willing to ensure that correct systems are in place to encourage paper recycling, and are building on the positive progress made by the first European Declaration on Paper Recovery 2000 to 2005 and previous Declaration 2006 to 2010. According to the ERPC, these sectors will continue on a sustainable path in paper recycling, making it possible to reach the new target of a 70% recycling rate by 2015. Signatories and supporters of the Declaration voluntarily accept to undertake a number of actions that will contribute to this target wherever technically possible and economically reasonable. Priority is to be given to the prevention of waste including its environmental impact during the manufacture of paper and board products, through collection and recycling of paper. Furthermore, the ERPC says that close attention is also being given to improving the recyclability and - where applicable - the deinkability of paper-based products. Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, explains: "the Declaration is fully in line with the European objective to build a 'circular economy' aiming at using waste as resource." ERPC chairman, Ulrich Höke adds: "The industry commits to continuously improve. We suggest, instead of simply 'Shrinking consumption' making paper consumption more sustainable, preserving the valuable contribution of the value chain to green growth and job creation in Europe." Read More Self Regulation: Lessons from PVC Recycling Having reached a voluntary target to recycle an additional 200,000 tonnes of material by 2010, the European PVC industry has moved the goalposts with the launch of the VinylPlus commitment. Ben Messenger looks at what this means for self regulation across Europe. Rise of the Paper Dragon The Chinese papermaking industry has become by far the world's largest consumer of recovered paper. With the West's limited ability to increase supply, WMW looks at some of the factors expected to drive the market in the coming years. Recycling Key to EU's Resource Efficiency Roadmap The 'roadmap' aimed at transforming Europe's economy into a sustainable one by 2050 has called for waste to be treated as a resource through the provision of economic incentives to reinforce markets for secondary materials and boost demand for recycled materials. Free Magazine Subscription Free Email Newsletter