Recyclable paper — a hot commodity
July 10, 2009 by Steve HannafordPosted in: Dealers & Channel, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Uncategorized
The worldwide demand for recycled paper keeps growing, slowed only by the current downturn.
In a report from International Paper called “Recycled vs. Virgin: Is recycled paper the best you can do?” (PDF), the company provides some surprising facts about paper recycling:
- 50% of all paper used worldwide is now recycled
- Enough paper is recycled each day to fill a 15-mile-long train
- Ten tons of old paper yields about 8 tons of usable fiber for recycled paper
- Demand for recovered paper fiber has been far higher than supply, thanks to increased use in Asia, which has limited forest for creating virgin paper
- Demand for recovered fiber had grown about 4% each year over the past decade
- More than half of US recovered paper fiber goes to China, a significant transport expense (and CO2 generation)
Some of these trends, of course, have been slowed by the global recession, but growing literacy and consumerism in the developing world keep the demand for paper high.
So why isn’t the cost of recycled paper going through the roof? In fact, prices are better now than they were a few years ago, and the variety and quality of recycled and combination recycled/virgin paper is better than ever.
To some extent it is increasing supply as more consumer recycling takes place, along with a leveling off of demand. But more important is improved technology and paper mills upgraded to transform used paper into usable fiber with great efficiency and in greater volume. We are starting to see the same economies of scale they handle virgin paper, as demand-fueled technology has improved. So, in spite of long-term growth and demand, most sources stable and perhaps even lower prices in the future.
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