Recycling Markets Panel: Paper

Abigail Sztein

Director, Government Affairs

About AF&PA

• Advances a sustainable pulp, paper, packaging and wood

products manufacturing industry

• Fact-based public policy and marketplace advocacy

• Represents 84% of the U.S. pulp, paper, paper-based

packaging and tissue capacity.

The Paper Industry in Minnesota

• Over 24,000 employees

• 8 mills and over 110 converting facilities

• 1 recycling facility

• $1.5 billion in annual payroll

• $8 billion in products

• $109 million in estimated state and local taxes paid

AF&PA’s 2020 Sustainability Goals

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1. Paper Recovery Exceed 70%

2. Energy Efficiency Increase purchased energy efficiency

by at least 10%

3. GHG Emissions Reduce intensity by at least 15%

4. Forestry Increase certified fiber procurement

5. Safety Reduce incidence rate by 25%

6. Water Reduce use in mills by 12%

Recovered Fiber Markets

• Complex, dynamic, efficient

• Global demand

• Collection commitment by many parties

• Municipalities, Schools

• Paper manufacturers, Recycling companies,

Businesses

• Millions of Americans

• Not served by regulations that restrict market-

based collection, distribution or use

U.S. Paper Recovery Rate 1990-2017

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80% Actual

Trend

Source: AF&PA

Historical Paper Market Trends

Historical Paper Market Trends

0

5

10

15

20

25

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Mixed Grades

Newspapers

Corrugated

Pulp Substitutes

High Grade Deinking

U.S. Recovered Paper Consumption

by Major Grade 2004-2016 (million short tons)

China National Sword

• China implemented a ban on the import of mixed paper beginning

1/1/2018, along with a 0.5% contamination limit for all grades of

recovered paper

• far tighter than the limits set by ISRI

• Compared to the year ago tonnage volume during the first six

months of 2018:

• Exports of all recovered paper to China down 39%

• Exports of mixed paper down 94 percent

US Recovered Paper Markets

• US demand for all recovered paper (including mixed) is stable and

expected to increase

• Exports recovered fiber to other Asian countries were up 114 percent

versus their year-ago tonnage volume during the first six months of 2018

to 4.1 million tons

• The total anticipated increase in U.S. consumption in 2018 works

out to approx. 597,000 tons.

Options To Address Remaining (~1.6 million tons) Mixed Paper

• More mixed paper use at existing mills

• New export markets

• Additional domestic capacity coming online

• Improve quality of residential mixed paper

• Consumer education and processing improvements at MRFs

Using More Mixed Paper

• Lower prices make mixed paper a more attractive feedstock

• Recovered fiber consumption at U.S. mills increased 1.1% in 2017

• Domestic consumption of mixed paper projected to increase in 2018 and 2019

• Best suited for containerboard, away-from-home tissue, and recycled

paperboard

• Improved quality will allow more mills to consider using mixed paper

• Processing improvements

• Technological advancement

All of the various options will contribute toward rebalancing the situation

Update on AF&PA Recovery Efforts

• Promote Voluntary Recovery - The Recycling Partnership

• MIT Research

• Consumer OCC Recycling

• Recovery of Targeted Materials

• Multiwall Paper Shipping Sacks

• Paper Foodservice Packaging

• Educational Outreach

Promoting Increased Paper Recovery

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The Responsible Package – Youth Education:

Minnesota Impact: 9,450 Students in 62 Schools

The Responsible Package

Objectives:• Raise awareness that paper is a renewable/recyclable

and that choosing paper-based packaging is the responsible choice.

• Encourage students to be agents of change in their homes and schools to increase recovery of paper and paper-based packaging for recycling.

• Educate students and their families on the sustainability of paper-based packaging through STEM based classroom & take home activities.

• Reach/Target: +350K students in 5th grade (ages 10-11), their families, and teachers

“Best Practices” for Sustaining Recovered Paper Markets

• Market Forces

• Collection

• Utilization

• System designed to meet end user requirements

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Thank You

Abigail Sztein

Director, Government Affairs

202.463-2596

abigail_sztein@afandpa.org

Brian Hawkinson

Executive Director of Recovered Fiber and Paperboard

202.463.2776

brian_hawkinson@afandpa.org

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