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Exports of paper and paperboard recovered to various Asian countries, notably China, has been growing during recent years (except 2010). The Asian giant needs manufacture cardboard packaging for their own exports of goods to the Western world, and for the production of these packaging requires paper and cardboard recovered as raw material. This product, from countries where sent those same boxes just so closing the life cycle of the same through its recycling. So, the Chinese paper industry is has developed rapidly, installing machines of last generation and the more developed, both in the productive sphere and in the environmental technology. This tremendous development of his paper recycling industry China, it has brought with it a very strong demand for paper and cardboard used recovered, giving rise to significant price increases of these raw materials, which have reached their historical peak levels around the globe. At the local level, the recovering companies strive to increase levels of collection of waste paper to be able to meet this demand, and in that legitimate competition, moved to its suppliers part of the price they perceive by sale of material. Councils that manage municipal selective waste collection services, are often the most important suppliers of the export recovery industry, and therefore the final recipients of funds from Chinese paper mills, or in general (also European) Asian.
Thus, many municipalities have efficient services of selective collection of paper, for a price much lower actual cost, or even free of charge. Otherwise, these services would be fully funded through the taxation of the taxpayer. In 2009 56,612 million tons of paper and cardboard used, which could only consume 44,941 million, with the rest exported were recovered in Europe (countries CEPI): 11671 million. Only between Spain, France and Portugal, the surplus of paper recovered was 2,290 million tons, that of not having been exported, would have been buried in our landfills (in 2010 seems to have dropped something that surplus). Source: Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) exports to Asia of corrugated paper or recovered, as well as other secondary raw materials, they carried out always using return containers, i.e. have arrived in Europe with consumer goods, and containers which have been loaded or empty, return to their countries of origin.
Thus, there higher environmental load by distance, being the number of empty containers returning, much higher than the number of loaded containers. As for the new paper manufactured in Spain, has also significantly developed its level of exports: 9% in 2010 surpassing 3 million tons. However, in this case, exports are made mainly to European countries, where there are no refunds in the form of consumer goods and new boxes, as it is the case with China. By this reason, the export of new paper, yes represents a significant reduction in the availability of recoverable waste paper in Spain. Other emerging services such as the destruction of confidential in conditions of high security documentation, can also be financed through the price received from the sale of recovered paper.
