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| Home > Resources > Paper > Challenges |
Paper Recycling Presents ChallengesPaper is the most common material in recycling programs (e.g., 75 percent of Ontario’s blue box [2006] is paper and cardboard). Even though we recycle lots of paper (Statistics Canada calculates that in 2004, we recycled more than 60,000 tonnes), it is still a significant part of the waste going to landfills: Saskatoon’s 2006 waste assessment shows that 17-20 percent of the waste stream is still paper, even though the community has had a paper recycling program for decades. While nearly all community recycling programs include paper and cardboard, paper recycling in Saskatchewan has had its ups and downs. Cosmopolitan Industries in Saskatoon has been processing newsprint and other papers for more than 30 years. On the other hand, paper programs in Meadow Lake and Nipawin shut down last year because of high costs and low revenues.
The price for recycled paper products varies according to the grade (see chart above). ONP (old newsprint) prices hovered between $45 and $65/tonne over the last two years. OCC (corrugated cardboard) prices are more volatile. Office paper prices were flat in 2006 and climbed slowly in 2007. Mixed paper prices are consistently low. Overall, the prices for recycled paper are lower than the costs of collection, processing, and especially, transportation. In the absence of other price mechanisms, like stewardship programs or subsidies from municipal taxes, this situation makes it difficult for paper recycling programs to survive. (Source: Feb. 2008 WasteWatch)
Recycling…skill or artRecycling is work, no question about it. If you are running a community recycling program, you need to figure out what stuff to collect, how to collect it, how to process it, who to sell it to, how to get it to the buyer and, oh yeah, how to pay for it. Making a profit at recycling is challenging. Generally speaking, revenues from the sale of recyclable materials (especially after netting out transportation costs) are not high enough to cover the cost of collection and processing. Businesses compensate for this by charging for collection, or by being specific about the materials that they will accept, dropping the unprofitable ones. Municipal recycling programs often operate on a net loss, but their economics are different, as they need to factor in the value of diverting materials from landfill, and public demand. Either way, making a recycling program work is tricky stuff. Designing collection systems that work for both the customer and collector, that minimize contamination and maximize the amount of materials … that requires skill. Processing materials efficiently to meet the specifications of the end users … that requires skill. Getting the most for your recyclables involves knowing who all the buyers are (for each type of material) and what the transport costs will be. You also need to know which buyers you can trust to pay promptly (or at all) and what type of contracts you will be able to negotiate. Recyclers also must know the history of prices, how they’ve changed over time and when they are likely to go up. Now we’re moving into the realm of art. And if you can figure out how long to wait out a price drop and calculate just how far up prices will go before you sell your yard full of cardboard …. that’s definitely art (and maybe a little luck). It reminds me of the gambler’s song “you gotta know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em”. Of course folks in this province should be pretty good at this sort of thing ….given our farming background. (Source: Feb. 2008 WasteWatch)
Paper Recycling Issues - Ontario and beyondThe Blue Box program in Ontario continues to grow and capture more material every year. With fibres making up over half of this material, the changing quality of fibres is impacting municipalities and mills alike. The amount of material recovered through the Blue Box increased by 9% in 2006 over 2005. (2007 statistics are not yet available.) It is estimated that the Blue Box program is capturing approximately 64% of the available residential recyclable material. Newspaper (ONP) accounts for over 50% of the total amount of material recycled through the Blue Box program. The recovery rate for ONP is the highest of any other material at over 90%. Other fibres, including corrugated cardboard (OCC), account for over 25% of the total amount of material captured through the Blue Box. The recovery rates for these materials are somewhat lower at around 60% since, for example, quantities of OCC are recovered in commercial recycling which are not reported through the residential-based Blue Box program. Overall, the numbers demonstrate that the Blue Box program is a successful program for recovering residential fibres in Ontario. But all is not glossy for fibre recovery in the Blue Box program. As reported at the recent (October 2007) AMRC workshop on Material Quality, the quality of fibres being marketed is going down. This is resulting in lower prices being paid, decreased revenues for municipalities, more residue, and overall less material being recycled. At the core of this issue is the changing paper stream. It is changing in two ways:
Recycling mills are dealing with diluted ONP loads and filtering out contaminants before they can recycle it. Municipalities are faced with improving collection and sorting efficiencies to increase funding received from Blue Box program stewards. These challenging operational aspects of the Blue Box program will have to be addressed if increased recovery and recyclability of paper is expected. If you are looking for information on waste management programs in Ontario, please contact Clayton Sampson csampson@wdo.ca, or phone 519-539-0869. (Source: Feb. 2008 WasteWatch)
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