Recycling body publishes European paper standards

The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) and the Brussels-based Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) have launched a 'European List of Standard Grades of Recovered Paper and Board' as an industry-led initiative to promote European standards for recovered paper.


The ‘European List of Standard Grades of Recovered Paper and Board’ provides a general description of the standard grades of recovered paper and board by defining what they do and do not contain. BIR says it has been devised in such a way as to adapt to the latest market, regulatory and technical developments, and will be of particular interest to industry professionals, organisations and individuals with an interest in the recovered paper sector, by assisting them in the buying and selling of the raw material intended for recycling by the paper and board industry.

According to CEPI’s Director General, Marie S. Arwidson, “this is an excellent example of joint co-operation between suppliers, producers, consumers and organisations along the paper chain. It’s a revision of the current European list which was originally developed by CEPI, and will also replace national lists which have been in use across the EU. It is particularly important that industry has now reached agreement that the List will become the only official list to be recognised and used throughout Europe, and that national lists also in use until now will be abandoned”.

CEPI and BIR will now be submitting the list to the European Committee for Standardisation (Comité Européen de Normalisation – CEN), and expect that the List will be used as a basis for the upcoming revision by CEN of the European standard EN 643 – which provides a detailed description of the differerent qualities of recovered paper in Europe.

The “European List of Standard Grades of Recovered Paper and Board” can be viewed on the web by following the link below.

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