Paper and board for recycling is a very important secondary raw material for the European paper industry. To improve quality and the definition of grades for this raw material, the European List of Standard Grades of Paper and Board for Recycling is being revised by CEN – the European Committee for Standardisation. National standardisation bodies that are members of CEN, voted unanimously in favour of the update to the EN643 standard this week. This vote was the culmination of many years of work by the involved parties.
As a next step, the final text for the revised EN643 will be translated and published by CEN and its national standardisation bodies latest in February 2014. The CEN working group was able to agree on several improvements to the EN643, including a grade-specific tolerance level for non-paper components and more detailed descriptions per grade.
The Confederation of European Paper Industries (Cepi) advises all organisations and individuals involved in trade with paper and board for recycling, to prepare for the introduction of the updated standard. Jori Ringman-Beck, Cepi Recycling and Environment Director, stressed: «Although this material has a waste status legally, it is important to push quality management through the whole supply chain.»
Cepi has been advocating responsible sourcing and quality management of paper for recycling over 10 years and is now organising an information session on the EN643 during the European Paper Week on 27 November in Brussels. Throughout the meeting Cepi experts will describe the detailed changes to the standard. In addition, Cepi is preparing a guidance document that explains the differences to the old EN 643 in a printed pocket-size format. It will first be available to participants at the European Paper Week.
Cepi and the European Federation representing the European waste management industry (Fead), as well as the European Recovered Paper Association (ERPA) initiated the update of the standard by submitting a joint revision proposal back in May 2011. In April 2013 the CEN/TC172 Working Group 2 sent their recommendations for the EN643 revision to CEN for final approval and vote by their members.
Commenting on the vote, Mr Ringman-Beck said: «We are happy that the standardisation authorities agreed with the revisions further improving the EN643 standard. I believe the new EN643 will surely advance the quality of paper for recycling and improve paper recycling by eliminating unwanted materials early on in the paper recovery process. This is another contribution by CEPI, ERPA and FEAD to a resource efficient EU.»