Paper Recycling Supplement - Welcome

The Recycling Today Media Group’s European Paper Recycling Conference, which recently concluded in Barcelona, brought together participants from 15 different nations, but that only tells half of the story.

Included among the attendees were brokers representing recovered fiber-consuming mills from well beyond Europe, with buyers seeking material for mills in China, India, Indonesia and other Asian nations.

Much as with the Paper Recycling Conference that takes place in the United States each year, attendees of the European event have business to discuss that is local, regional and, increasingly, global.

The global economy is often presented as a world of opportunity. But for recyclers and paper mill companies alike, the opportunity often intrudes as a set of threats and challenges.

Paper mills in North America, Western Europe and other regions with a surplus of scrap paper were created with or developed business models that were dependent on the ability to procure their fiber within a radius that would minimize freight costs.

Many recyclers, too, also established their businesses in geographic locations that provided affordable freight to nearby mills.

North American readers are familiar with the number of mill closings in the past 10 years that have disrupted that relationship. A presenter from the United Kingdom at the European Paper Recycling Conference informed attendees that, similarly, some 36 mills have closed in that nation in the past six years. That nation is now exporting more scrap paper than it consumes.

Proximity made sense and can continue to make sense for mills and suppliers. However, relying on home town loyalty alone can be a mistaken business assumption. Just ask makers of American-branded automobiles, who continue to see their market share shrivel.

Trying to retain dominance in a regional market is proving increasingly difficult in a global economy.

For those involved, the challenges are very real, and many of the opportunities that exist may involve lengthening the paper trail from collection point to mill.