he European paper value chain is proud to announce that it reached the trajectory set back in 2016 to achieve 74% recycling in 2020: 73.9% of all paper consumed in Europe was recycled in 2020.
Compared to 2019, the year 2020 brought another strong increase, and if we look back 20 years ago, paper recycling even increased by 40%.
Due to the Covid-19 crisis, among others, less paper and board was consumed and available for collection last year, while its utilisation in the European Paper industry continued to be steady.
The Covid-19 crisis demonstrated the importance of continued collection to maintain circular economy models such as paper recycling. This importance was illustrated by the crucial role of paper collection for the production of packaging and hygiene products in the first half of 2020.
Overall, collection of paper and board for recycling reached 56 million tonnes, while the consumption of paper and board decreased to 75.8 million tonnes in the EU27, Norway Switzerland and the United Kingdom. This explains a further increase of the recycling rate.
About the 2020 recycling rate, Annick Carpentier, Director General of ACE and current EPRC chairwoman stated:
“Reaching our set 74% paper recycling target shows the paper and board value chain is serious about its understanding as a role model for circularity and will continue to be”.
The European Paper Recycling Council is monitoring the development of the European Paper recycling rate and its progress towards the set target of 74% recycling rate by 2020. The European paper recycling rate is defined as the ratio between used paper recycling including net trade of paper for recycling and paper and board consumption.
The full monitoring report including action by the EPRC signatories and supporters in the fields of collection, eco-design, research and education is available here
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