For your consideration

Who remembers the last time the specifications for waste paper grades issued by the Paper Stock Industries (PSI) Chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, were updated, amended or changed?

The reality is that these specifications have not be changed for some years. This is quite concerning as our industry is changing and evolving in response to a number of external factors. In light of these external factors, a gap has developed between what is being traded and what is actually stated in the current specifications.

The timing of these proposed changes to the specifications may not be good for some in the industry, while others simply may gripe at the thought of change. However, the underlining issue is that something must be done, and we have to get back to the drawing board as far as specifications are concerned.

I will discuss how the PSI Specifications Committee is trying to tackle this fundamental issue while keeping stakeholders in mind throughout the process. I will provide some background about the process and how we formulated the proposed specifications for what we believe to be the currently traded grades. I also will discuss the process and what the future holds in terms of amending the specifications.
 

Determining focus areas

The first thing the PSI Specifications Committee had to do was focus on the grades we believed differed from what the specifications currently state. We did this by looking at the most heavily traded grades: OCC (old corrugated containers), mixed paper and old newspapers (ONP). Once we decided the direction of our focus, we needed to collect data from all interested parties. We did so by hosting a Specifications Summit in Dallas in February 2015.

What we found in Dallas in terms of dialogue and participation was a success. Many stakeholders from large collectors to mill buyers were in attendance. It was the ideal setting for the PSI Specifications Committee to collect and extrapolate data on the material currently being traded.

Once the Specifications Summit concluded, the Specifications Committee had a long road ahead. The first step was to establish a well-rounded and diverse committee to weigh in on the proposed changes. We decided the committee should be made up of brokers, mill buyers and generators. The second thing we did after the summit was to comb through numerous pages of surveys, idea boards and comments that were generated during the event. After careful thought and tough deliberation, we drafted what we believed to be specifications for grades that are actually generated and traded today in 2015.

We then ran our draft by the PSI board for further review and comments, which gave us more valuable feedback. Finally, we went back to the committee to address the concerns of the board. What we came up with was yet another draft to be presented at the Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference, organized by the Recycling Today Media Group, in Chicago in October.
 

Proposing changes

At the Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference, we presented what the committee has been working on all these months:

A) Sorted Clean News (SCN). Consists of unsold and sorted used newspapers from source-separated collection programs, converters, drop-off centers and paper drives containing the normal percentages of roto gravure, colored and coated sections. May contain inserts that would normally be included in the newspaper in the proper proportions. Grade must be free of excessive ink, brown grades and nonpaper material. (Some mills may require pack to be free of flexographic inks.) Prohibited materials: nonpermitted. Outthrows may not exceed 0 percent.

B) Sorted Residential Papers (SRP). Consists of sorted newspapers, junk mail, magazines, printing and writing papers and other acceptable papers generated from residential programs (such as residential household and apartment collections and drop-off centers) sorted and processed at a recycling facility. Material should be free of containerboard and brown grades (OCC, kraft bags, boxboard and kraft carrier board). Prohibitive materials (wax/foil papers, other nonpaper material) may not exceed 2 percent. Outthrows (corrugated, kraft bags/board, boxboard, polycoated) may not exceed 3 percent.

C) Sorted Mix Paper. Consists of all paper and paperboard of various qualities not limited to the type of fiber content as typically generated by residential programs (such as residential, household and apartment collections and drop-off centers) sorted and processed at a recycling facility. Prohibitive materials (wax coated, foil papers, other nonpaper material) may not exceed 2 percent. Outthrows may not exceed 3 percent.

D) Sorted Hard Mix. Consists of OCC and other brown grades of paper sorted from fiber collected typically but not limited to residential recycling programs. Pack will be sorted and processed at a recycling facility. Includes OCC, grocery bags, boxboard cartons and other household papers. May contain up to 10 percent white or colored papers. Prohibitive materials (wax coated, foil papers, other nonpaper material) may not exceed 1 percent. Outthrows plus prohibitives may not exceed 5 percent.

E) Old Corrugated Containers (OCC No. 11). Consists of corrugated containers having liners of either test liner or kraft, the majority of which is made of USA domestic corrugated containers. May contain a maximum of 30 percent foreign OCC. Prohibitive materials may not exceed 1 percent. Outthrows plus prohibitives may not exceed 5 percent.

In addition to presenting new grades that we feel accurately reflect what the market is trading, the committee also recommended the deletion of ONP grades Nos. 6, 7, 8 and 9 and of mix grades Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Further, we recommended that there should be an industry standard for moisture readings.
 

The work continues

Now with the Chicago conference behind us and our presentation complete, the PSI Specifications Committee must again rework the various specifications based on input we received during and since the conference, keeping in mind the best interest of all stakeholders involved in these transactions.

Based on the feedback we’ve received, the first thing the PSI Specifications Committee decided was to retract our recommendation to delete the over-issue news No. 9 grade. We believed SCN was a good alternative; however, in light of the comments we received, we decided to maintain the current specification as it stands and instead to rework the SCN specification to address buy-back centers and other generators that are processing clean news.

Secondly, we decided to expand on the SCN grade, updating it to read: A) Sorted Clean News/SCN. Consists of unsold and sorted used newspapers from source-separated collection programs, converters, drop-off centers and paper drives containing the normal percentages of roto gravure, colored and coated sections. May contain inserts that would normally be included in the newspaper in the proper proportions. Grade must be free of excessive ink, brown grades and nonpaper material. (Some mills may require pack to be free of flexographic inks.) Other papers may not exceed more than 10 percent. Prohibited materials: half of 1 percent. Outthrows plus prohibitives may not exceed 1 percent.

Addressing over-issue news No. 9 is just one facet of what we have yet to accomplish. The next matter on our agenda was taking a closer look at the OCC grade. The Specifications Committee also decided to further update the specification for this grade as we believe “off-shore” is a better choice of wording than “foreign.”

We also are turning our focus to the next Specifications Summit we are hosting in New Orleans in February 2016. (Look out for further announcements.) At this summit in New Orleans, we plan to vote on the specifications. Note that only active members of PSI can vote; however, we are still addressing all interested parties’ concerns.

After the vote in New Orleans and further steps to ratify the specifications, there is going to be a period of education and adjustment involved, but we believe we are one step further in our goal of making the grades a reflection of what is truly out in the marketplace. We know some stakeholders have major concerns with the current recommendations, and we are constantly working to ensure all stakeholders are taken into consideration. While we continue to work hard, we encourage all parties to share their options and questions with us and to look for all the announcements we make throughout the year. It is important for all the stakeholders to come out and voice their concerns or encouragement in New Orleans February 2016. It remains our ultimate goal to make grade specifications that are factual and practical grades for today’s market.

Kari Talvola is Specifications Committee Chair for the Paper Stock Industries Chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries. She works for Burlingame, California-based Fibre Trade and can be contacted by phone at 650-443-3101 or at kt@fibretrade.com.