The Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) has today published a position paper on how the quality of Paper for Recycling can be improved via separate collections of paper and card. CPI believes that collection methods are a key element in achieving high-quality recycling and sees little point in standardising the list of recyclables collected at kerbside if the process then renders materials unusable by cross-contamination.
High quality Paper for Recycling can only be achieved via separate collections of paper and card which provide a consistent, standardised, quality-focused collection regime that creates benefits through the supply chain. Separate collections would reduce public confusion about what can and cannot be recycled, while delivering higher quality, higher value recyclate for local authorities, waste collectors and reprocessors. Consideration needs to be given both to what is collected and how it is collected. CPI is calling for a dual bin approach a necessary minimum requirement, allowing paper and board to be collected separately.
When the UK Government announced its intention to make significant reforms to the Resources and Waste Strategy for England – looking at a UK-wide packaging Producer Responsibility system, Consistency in Recycling Collections, and a Deposit Return Scheme, the Paper Industry was broadly supportive of the proposed initiatives. Such reforms would have a great potential to improve both the volume and quality of materials, especially as Government proposed that paper and board should be collected separately from other dry recyclables. However, the response on Consistency of Recycling Collections is yet to be published and there is still much work to be done for the UK’s EPR and DRS systems to be fully developed. There are remaining questions on how all the reforms are going to work together, and importantly how the Government will support the Paper Industry to achieve a 89% recycling rate by 2030, whilst ensuring high quality recyclate.
The position paper emphasises the importance of consistent collections and urges the Government to enact and show leadership by establishing a robust regulatory regime through separate collections for paper and card. Such a move will attract investment in paper manufacturing to the UK and provide reassurance to packaging producers who will be funding recycling collection systems and who expect that optimum collection systems are implemented to ensure high recycling rates and high-quality output. Unless there are interventions to increase the quality of Paper for Recycling, there is a risk of disinvestment in the UK paper production and recycling infrastructure, coupled with an inability to sell a contaminated recycling product into global markets.
The paper also calls the Government to support and incentivise the reprocessing of harder to recycle fibre-based materials by providing funding streams to increase the range of fibre-based packaging items the UK’s paper mills can reprocess. In the event TEEP exemptions are granted, the Paper Industry expects improvements in MRF operations and inspection systems and calls the Government to produce official guidance and standardised TEEP assessments.
The Paper Industry has intensified its efforts to increase the quality, range and quantity of Paper for Recycling, whilst motivating sustainable design and improving the recyclability of the more challenging materials. CPI recently established Papercycle, a tool which provides the product design assessments required to deliver increased recycling. This work, combined with the CPI Design for Recyclability Guidelines, which point the way towards resource efficient recycling and make fibre-based products recyclable by design, put the Paper Industry in a leading role in defining standards.
Dimitra Rappou, Director of Recycling at CPI said, “I am delighted to be able to present CPI’s new position paper on Consistency of Collections – I hope the Government will take note of the recommendations within it to create a consistent, standardised, quality-focused collection regime.
Through the position paper CPI has emphasised that developing a Quality Culture is the only way to achieve future recycling targets whilst increasing the quality of recyclate entering the waste stream, educating citizens about the value of resources and supporting the transition to a circular, resource efficient economy.”
ENDS
For further information contact Holly Whitbread ([email protected]).
Notes to Editors
CPI is the leading trade association representing the UK’s Paper-based Industries, comprising paper and board manufacturers and converters, corrugated packaging producers, makers of soft tissue papers, and collectors of paper for recycling.
CPI represents an industry with an aggregate annual turnover of £11.5 billion, with 56,000 direct and a further 93,000 indirect employees.