Germany: In 2016. Germany used almost 17 million tonnes of recycled paper for the production of a total of 22.6 million tonnes of paper and cardboard.
This represents an increase by 1,2% compared with 2015, reveals the Vice-president of bvse WernerSteingas at the annual conference for recycling of paper, of the organization.
Germany has achieved a record of 74,5 % use of recycled paper last year. The country managed to meet the demand of the material through the import of 4.4 millions of tonnes from other EU countries – 7.6% more than the import in 2015, according to .Steingas.
“The fact is that in Europe, more waste paper is collected than the amount necessary to the paper factories for their production,” he added. “While this is so, export remains to be the necessary basis for the success of the paper-recycling industry”.
Commenting on the business climate in Germany, Steingas explained to the delegates that the “big players increasingly become bigger, and the medium-sized companies become smaller and smaller”.
While the recycling sector can be described as a “stable” one last year, it was noted that the paper-recycling labour force has decreased to slightly over 40,000 people. It was also found that the sales of graphic paper declined by 3.6% last year, while for packaging and hygienic paper it shows an increase by 1,8% and 3.2% accordingly.
New record of 74,5 % use of recycled paper in Germany
