The end-of-waste status holds the key to preserving the vital export outlet of Europe's recovered paper industry beyond 2027, according to Francisco Donoso, President of the BIR Paper Division. The EU's newly-revised Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR) poses a significant threat to the industry, as it restricts exports to non-OECD countries. This could lead to a massive surplus of recovered paper in Europe, which would have devastating consequences for the industry.

Donoso emphasized the importance of implementing the new regulation in a pragmatic manner, or else the market in Europe would be destroyed. He also urged major importers of the EU's recovered paper, such as India and countries in South East Asia, to actively support efforts within Europe to establish end-of-waste status as a solution to the export obstacles presented by the revised WSR.

End-of-waste status already exists in some European countries, including Spain and Italy, but Donoso believes that universal adoption should be the objective. This would enable recovered paper and cardboard to shed its waste status by satisfying certain criteria, including processing to accepted benchmarks such as quality standard EN 643.

The adoption of end-of-waste status across Europe and beyond could play an important role in promoting circular economy goals, but currently, there is no harmonisation. Fátima Aparicio, Divisional General Delegate of Repacar in Spain, explained that recovered paper and cardboard could shed its waste status by satisfying certain criteria, including processing to accepted benchmarks such as quality standard EN 643.

Three guest speakers provided an overview of the recovered paper market. Hannu Oskari Hara, Trading Desk Manager at Norexeco ASA – The Pulp and Paper Exchange, traced the volatility of OCC in Europe and outlined how a commodity exchange could assist in the management of price risk exposure. John Atehortua, Regional Trading Manager for Recovered Paper at Cellmark in the Netherlands, highlighted extreme levels of volatility in the US market, where prices had increased 150% on a year-on-year basis due to harsh winter weather conditions and demand pull.

Simone Scaramuzzi, Commercial Director of LCI SRL in Italy, surveyed the Asian paper recycling landscape and its main European suppliers. He noted that recovered paper imports had surged to around 7 million tonnes in 2023 on the back of particularly strong growth in India's purchases. New production capacities in Europe would create more competition from Asian mills in order to maintain their import quotas.