U.K. Paper Recycling Rate Reaches 78.7% in 2011

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The U.K. paper recycling rate in 2011 increased by nearly 5% over 2010, according to figures recently released by the U.K.-based Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI). The rise from 75.1% in 2010 to 78.7% last year ensures that the U.K. surpasses the target set in the revised European Declaration on Paper Recycling (2011 - 2015) to "maintain current high levels in countries where it already reached levels of above 70%."

However, CPI sounded a note of caution by highlighting that the rise in the recycling rate could be attributed more to a decrease in paper consumption than a significant increase in the amount of paper collected for recycling. Stuart Pohler, CPI Recovered Paper Sector manager, said that "while the increase in the recycling rate is welcomed in principle, it is important to qualify the apparent performance improvement. U.K. collection of used recovered paper in 2011 was just over 8 million metric tons, an increase of 0.4% over 2010, whereas consumption of paper and board products that entered the U.K. waste stream fell by 4.2% compared with 2010.

"With lower volumes available for collection, and only a modest increase in tonnage collected for recycling from existing sources, ensuring recycling performance is maintained in the future will mean additional sources will be required. This will have a significant knock-on effect for cost and quality control for collectors, and may become increasingly difficult if demand from global paper mills falls, further suppressing collectors income," Pohler explained.