Thessa lageman7/11/2023 “When one tree is harvested, generally three or four trees are planted and when harvested, all parts of the tree are used carefully,” he adds. “This is an opportunity for the innovative pulp industry in areas ranging from textiles to health care.” To substitute for losses, he calls for renewable materials like cellulose pulp to be used to link the circular economy to sustainable natural cycles. “This is true for all materials in the circular economy, not only paper.” “This means you cannot collect enough from yesterday’s consumption for tomorrow’s growing needs,” says Ringman. In practice, paper can only be recycled five to seven times, because, besides the fact that not all paper is returned to the paper producers, part of the fibres get lost during the recovery, collection and sorting process. “Natural fibres used for paper have the same characteristics.” “When you wear your favourite t-shirt for years, it will also get holes,” explains Ringman. After 20 to 25 times, wood fibres are worn out. However, producers like the label material supplier UPM Raflatac, for example, recently developed a new type of glue for labels that can now easily be separated from the paper during the recycling process Some of the final products cannot be recycled currently on a large scale, says Krauthauf. “We work closely together with the suppliers of ink, glue and machines to make sure we can reuse the paper.” “Everybody has a responsibility to recycle,” says Krauthauf, who is also Chairman of the International Association of the Deinking Industry (INGEDE). “However, if someone puts a newspaper in the general waste bin, we can’t get it back.” Tissue-based products such as toilet paper, diapers and paper tissues usually cannot be recycled. Both UPM and CEPI are advocating measures to reverse this. “Unfortunately, in some regions, especially in Eastern Europe, the level of collection is low,” says Krauthauf. But there are some barriers to reaching that goal. The signatories of the new European Declaration on Paper Recycling have committed to reaching a 74% paper recycling rate by 2020. In 2017, 72.3% of all paper consumed in Europe was recycled, according to the European Paper Recycling Council. In fact, recycling in the industry has increased by 49% since 1998 to reach 19.5 million tonnes. Paper companies started to buy their paper back from the local authorities, ensuring that recyclable material is always available. “Recycling graphic paper, like newspapers and magazines, on a large, organised scale started in the 60s,” says Thomas Krauthauf, Vice President RCP & CEWS at UPM Communication Papers. The circular economy approach continues to serve the industry well even in modern times. When the demand for paper grew in the 19th century, and there wasn’t enough recycled textile available, cellulose fibre was introduced. “The first paper in medieval times came from recycled textiles,” he explains. “Paper has always been recycled,” says Jori Ringman, Deputy Director General at the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), a non-profit-making organisation, based in Brussels. For the pulp and paper industry, this model hits close to home. Unlike the traditional ‘take and make’, a circular economy thrives on a ‘Reuse and Recycle’ model. So what could be the solution? Circular economies might hold the answer.Ī circular economy is a system aimed at maximising the use of resources and reducing waste by making the best possible use of a product. As a result, the world is seized by the problem of balancing rising demand for raw materials, with a finite supply. The world will have 2 billion new middle-class consumers by 2030, which inevitably means consumption levels will increase.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |