Numerous domestic recycled paper mill investments have been announced in the past two years, suggesting a much stronger domestic market for recycled paper in the years to come. | noomcpk/Shutterstock
Recycled paper mill leaders recently weighed in on the factors behind market shifts, how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting generation and demand, and where markets are headed in the future.
A new 350,000-square-foot corrugated manufacturing facility in Ohio will consume recycled paper. | Huguette Roe/Shutterstock
A European corrugated packaging producer will build its first U.S. plant in Ohio, where the company plans to consume more than 66,000 short tons of recovered paper per year.
Shipping giant Maersk announced as of Sept. 1, 2020 it will no longer take scrap material shipments to China. | Mariusz Bugno/Shutterstock
Citing China’s upcoming legislation that will ban all “solid waste” imports, APM-Maersk this month announced it will stop shipping virtually all recovered materials to China and Hong Kong in the coming weeks.
From January through May 2020, China imported 1.9 million short tons of recovered fiber from the U.S.. | Avigator Fortuner/Shutterstock
The Chinese government continues to indicate it will eliminate “solid waste” imports, restating the plan during a recent press conference. At the same time, the country has approved additional shipments of recovered paper.
Once operational, the Empire Recycled Fiber mill will produce 440,000 tons per year of recycled paper pulp. | Luis M. Seco/Shutterstock
A $125 million recycled paper pulp mill in Pennsylvania will source more than 500,000 tons per year of mixed paper and OCC. The facility will ship its product to China.
The Indonesian government on May 27 announced the official contamination policy for imports of scrap paper, plastic and other materials. | dani daniar/Shutterstock
Paper and plastic shipments to Indonesia will be allowed a maximum of 2% contamination, the country recently announced. The move follows several changes to the country’s import policies last year.
Shipping company MSC stopped accepting scrap cargo headed to China as of June 1. | Fomin Roman/Shutterstock
A major shipping line will no longer accept recovered fiber and other scrap material exports bound for China, in anticipation of the country completely closing the door to those commodities.
Greif CEO Peter Watson noted that closure plans for the company’s Mobile, Ala. facility date back to before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. | hxdyl/Shutterstock
Three paper companies recently closed facilities that use recycled material. Two framed the shutdowns as part of longer-term “optimization” plans, and the third said it is a direct response to the COVID-19 impact on demand.
Once stay-at-home orders and business closures took hold across the U.S., OCC generation declined very sharply. | AdamBoor/Shutterstock
The coronavirus pandemic has sharply diminished OCC collection from established commercial channels and some residential programs. An analyst describes how the virus hit the paper sector, and mill operators offer perspective on how they’re reacting.
