North America

Asia

Australasia

Latin America

Africa

10.000

50.000

100.000

150.000 Annual Fiber Flow[kt]

Virgin Fiber

Recovered Fiber

Fig. 1.2 Global annual flow of virgin and recovered fibers

by region in 2000 [21].

such as Scandinavia and Canada, recycling levels are much lower. The share of

virgin and recovered fiber by region is illustrated in Fig. 1.2.

Ona European level, about 50%of the collected volumes are derived fromtrade and

industrial sources, 40%fromhouseholds, and the remaining 10%fromoffices. These

proportions differ greatly between countries as well as collection systems. The future

potential clearly lies in households, but as these consist of numerous small

sources, the costs and quality of recovered paper are placed under pressure.

Among users of recovered paper, packaging grades are the major user at almost

two-thirds of the total recovered paper. In Europe, case materials represent 23% of

total paper and board production, have a utilization rate of 90%, and use 45% of

the total recovered paper consumption [35]. The utilization rate of newsprint, representing

about 12% of total paper and board production, has increased steadily

over the years and reached 74% in 2003. The challenge for the future is certainly

the use of recycled fiber for the manufacture of printing and writing papers. Currently,

the utilization rate of these grades is slightly below 9% [35].

1.5