The increase in online shopping and use of digital devices is changing the types of paper being used, according to DS Smith Recycling.
As a result of these changing habits, less graphic paper is entering the supply chain.
DS Smith Recycling European sales and purchasing director Jim Malone said: “It is changing the flow of fibre through the market, with less graphic paper and more corrugated ending its journey in the domestic recycling stream. This presents new collection opportunities and challenges in harvesting this section of the fibre stream.
“An important issue is that paper and packaging passing through the domestic channel often gets mixed with other recyclate and this creates new challenges on the quality front.”
Global consumption of paper and board is expected to increase by 100 million tonnes in the next 14 years with much of this expected to come from the packaging and tissue sectors.
Jim Malone added: “One concern is that while the overall European recycling rate has been increasing over the last 20 years, the actual total volume available to collect has been in decline since 2007. But there is a real opportunity to use the models developed in countries with high recycling rates to boost recycling in countries with less developed collection systems.”
Read Jim Malone’s recent blog on the quality issue on this site.
