Europe tops the world with 71.7% paper recycling rates in 2012

LONDON (Scrap Monster) : Europe achieved  outstanding paper recycling rate of 71.7% in 2012, says the European Recovered Paper Council (ERPC) in their annual monitoring report. The ERPC report also reveals that the rate of Europe’s paper consumption has fallen drastically during the year. Meantime, the quantity of recycled paper has increased dramatically.

The report illustrates additional good news. The number of European countries with a recycling rate below 60% has fallen from 12 to 10 in an year. On the other hand, there are currently 13 countries recycling over 70% of its paper. In fact, Sweden has a collection rate of nearly 95% of newspapers for recycling. To increase paper recycling especially in Central Europe, several ERPC members are partners in EU funded projects working to improve collection systems in that region.

ERPC notes that paper and board was the most widely recycled packaging material in Europe, with 81.3 per cent being recycled. Steel came in second highest at 74 per cent, followed by glass (70 per cent) and aluminium (67 per cent).

The report also expresses concerns over the finding that European recycling rates are ‘levelling off’ as consumption patterns change. The sharp decline in newspaper consumption may have significant impact on the recycling rates as newspapers are traditionally one of the best recycled paper products. Also, there has been a considerable rise in the number of paper products that cannot be recycled including tissues, the report notes.