The paper recycling industry is one of the greatest success stories in the UK’s resource use sector. The Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) estimates that of the 11.6 million tonnes of paper and board used in 2012, around 8.1 million tonnes were collected for recycling (either within the UK or abroad). At just over 70 per cent, this figure is approaching the upper limit of collectable and recyclable material – generally thought to be around 81 per cent of the paper consumed. High rates of recycling mean that papermakers are less dependent on virgin wood pulp; in fact, the ‘urban forest’ of recovered paper contributes almost three quarters of the total fibre required for manufacturing new paper and cardboard.

But delve a little deeper, and the industry proves far more complex than these figures might suggest, with many different recycling rates, end uses and ideal collection strategies for the surprising number of subcategories of used paper. CPI’s Recovered Paper Sector Manager Stuart Pohler says: “Recovered paper can be used to make new products composed entirely of recovered fibre or a blend of recovered and virgin fibres. The most common applications for recovered paper include newsprint, cardboard containers and tissue. Depending on the type of product being produced, each mill will use established ‘recipes’ specifying the type of fibre(s) and its desired compositional quality.”

To ensure that supplies of recovered paper meet the standards required for manufacturing new material, paper bales are graded. EN643 is Europe’s primary reference point in this regard, defining more than 100 different categories into which recovered paper and board can be sorted. These are categorised into five groups: Ordinary Grade; Medium Grade; High Grade; Kraft Grade; and Special Grade. Below, we profile at least one of the categories from each grouping.