In a statement, paper and packaging group Europac warns all stakeholders in the European paper industry against a sharp decline in RCP prices as the export market in China has closed its doors for mixed paper.
Excess supply is already becoming a problem and long-term solutions will be needed.
Europac also explains that the financial risk of exporting recovered paper to China is huge since the Chinese government has set a contamination cap of 0.5% (compared to 1.5% in Europe).
This "introduces a level of arbitrariness into the decision on whether the goods are valid, and the cost of returning them in case of non-compliance has to be assumed by the exporter," Europac writes in its statement.
Europac also attached a statement from Cercle National du Recyclage. The French association believes the market to be "seriously affected" and "close to saturation point". Europe is having to deal with an excess of material that it cannot consume, leading to a fall in prices, the association writes.
