Fibre collections edge lower in CEPI zone

Europe – Utilisation of paper for recycling was broadly unchanged last year across the 18 member countries of the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) whereas collections dipped 0.4% from 2013 levels, according to the organisation’s ‘Key Statistics’ document launched earlier this month. The overall recycling rate, meanwhile, slipped from 72% in 2013 to 71.7%.

The 17 EU members plus Norway used a total of 47.546 million tonnes of paper for recycling last year compared to 47.534 million tonnes in 2013, with Germany accounting for 35% followed by France and Spain with shares of, respectively, 11.4% and 10.6%. The 2014 utilisation total was equivalent to 52.2% of total paper and board production within the CEPI zone.

The utilisation increase was achieved despite newspapers & magazines suffering a sharp decline from 11.841 million tonnes in 2013 to 11.208 million tonnes last year. Conversely, mixed paper, corrugated & kraft and the high grades progressed to, respectively, 9.144 million tonnes, 22.187 million tonnes and 5.006 million tonnes.

Among the CEPI countries, collections of paper for recycling dropped from 55.475 million tonnes in 2013 to 55.231 million tonnes last year, although this total still represented a surge of 26.5% since the year 2000. Also in the CEPI zone, production of paper and board fell 0.2% in 2014 to 91.1 million tonnes while consumption climbed 0.9% to 77.1 million tonnes, thereby ending three years of decline.