The Spanish paper industry bets on local raw materials, renewable and recyclable
97% wood and 69% of waste paper used in papermaking in Spain are locally sourced
Coinciding with the celebration of World Environment Day, the Spanish paper industry reaffirms its commitment to the circular economy, betting on local, renewable and recyclable raw materials. According to ASPAPEL, in 2015, 97% of timber and 69% of waste paper used as raw material in paper production in our country are locally sourced, thereby improving environmental and economic efficiency.
Paper is a forest product, forest product. Wood for paper is planted and cultivated in plantations that are continuously regenerating and are replanted and engine of the rural economy. 5.1 million m3 of timber that the Spanish industry pulp and paper used as raw material in 2015, 97% come from local pine and eucalyptus plantations, with an increase of 10% in local supply wood.
It is also the other forest, “urban forest” of paper for recycling. After use, paper products close the cycle, becoming again in resources, according to the essential postulate of the circular economy. The Spanish paper industry is the second largest European recycler of paper and cardboard, surpassed only by Germany. With efficient systems of collection and treatment in 2015 were collected for recycling 4.6 million tons of paper and cardboard (3% more than the previous year), representing 70% of all paper and cardboard we consume, and It puts us in the elite of the collection, according to ASPAPEL.
Close the cycle of paper and cardboard recycling in nearby means to value the effort that Spanish society has developed in recent years in the recovery of waste paper and cardboard. Means that employment and added value, which is used to convert paper into new paper and new paper products is generated where investments have been made and the citizen effort for the collection of waste paper. It is also a commitment to the competitiveness of the recycling industry, reindustrialization a commitment by the real economy, as a lever for economic recovery.
Spain, forestry power and power recycling paper
Spain, highly deficient in raw materials, has in the wood fiber grown in plantations and in the “urban forest” unaoportunidad for the development of a bio-industry vanguard, according ASPAPEL. We do not have oil or gas, but we have good climatic conditions for growing timber and baldía available by the abandonment of farming and livestock area. And we have also developed an efficient system for collecting paper for recycling, with the enthusiastic cooperation of citizens.
We are the third EU country in forest area and that represents a great opportunity. To seize it must promote sustainable forest management of these forests and their certification.
In the field of recycling paper and cardboard ASPAPEL considers it a priority to preserve and enhance the efficient systems of existing selective collection today, which have proved their worth with rates of collection and recycling over that place us among the world elite.
The paper industry commitment recycling targets ambitious and uniform for all waste materials, to prohibit the entry of recyclable waste in landfills, encourage waste recovered in Spain are recycled in Spain or in the EU and encourage citizen cooperation with transparent information on the results of recycling and final disposal of waste.
To continue working, with renewed momentum in improving the already very successful Spanish system of collection and recycling of paper and cardboard, was formed last year within ASPAPEL the Bureau of the New Recovery, an open platform for all companies in the recovery of paper and cardboard to recycle, who want to contribute to the definition and development of new strategies and projects for the future of the recovery and recycling sector in Spain. The ultimate purpose is to create value along the chain of recycling paper and cardboard, working together to define and achieve common goals, with an integrated strategic vision of the sector. The 12 companies currently participating in the Mesa account for more than 55% recovery of paper and cardboard in Spain.
Recovery is a fundamental part of the paper recycling chain, an essential link in the circular economy, given that conditions and transforms waste into raw material, which is recycled in paper mills, thus closing the circle. Therefore, the sector of the recovery and recycling of paper and cardboard, comprising manufacturers and recyclers of paper and cardboard, is a reference in the model economy circularmediante converting waste into valuable resources, having achieved collection rates 70 % recycling and 80% levels of excellence.
Source: Aspapel.es