Recycled Newsprint Machines are becoming an Endangered Species
Category : Environmental Issues, Newsprint, Recycling
There have been four recent closures of recycled newsprint paper machines, in addition to the January shut down of Catalyst’s deinking pulp facility in Coquitlam British Columbia. These are not all permanent closures but it will be an uphill battle to keep any of them going for the long-term.
AbitibiBowater at Thorold Ontario (210,000 tonnes, 100% recycled))
Atlantic Packaging (newsprint machine) at Whitby Ontario (160,000 tonnes, 100% recycled)
Blue Heron at Oregon City Oregon (in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but still might be producing some newsprint, 110,000 tonnes, about 80% recycled)
White Birch at Newberg Oregon (pm #5, 180,000 tonnes, about 40% recycled)
Catalyst’s Coquitlam B.C. deinking plant
With North American newsprint shipments down well over 50% since 2000, and still falling, newsprint capacity must close proportionately. Based on the machines being closed, it is obvious that recycled fiber is more costly than virgin fiber in the current environment.
Recycled paper posts tend to draw comments from readers so we have listed some discussion points and hope that some of you choose to respond. We will add our thoughts in a couple of days.
1. Why is recycled fiber more costly these days than virgin fiber?
2. Did environmental campaigns of ForestEthics, which forced catalogers to utilize recycled fiber, help or hurt recycled newsprint mills?
3. How will the closure of these recycled newsprint mills impact the amount of paper going to landfill?
4. If newspaper publishers were willing to pay a higher price for recycled newsprint, would these machines still be operating?
Comments on any or all of these four points are encouraged.
I wonder if the push for more recycled towel and tissue products may also have had an impact on the cost of recovered/ de-inked fiber needed for the newsprint mills. greenpeace vs KC
China still has an enormous appetite for secondary fiber
Af&Pa published the recovery % 63+% meeting its goal 3 years early seems a little deceptive recovery has not increased the capacity of the paper industry has declined from 100 million tons two years ago
Certainly the increased use of recycled fiber for other products domestically is a factor. Exports to China and other markets in Asia is a huge factor, with China using old newspapers, old magazines and other grades for products ranging from newsprint to packaging and beyond. The other big reason for rising recycled fiber costs is the reduced consumption of newsprint in the US – there is less newsprint being distributed in the form of newspapers to be recycled.
I recently saw an article that the Chinese were not happy with the quality of west coast ONP # 8, and were buying ONP#9 instead. I am not familair with this grade, what is it? How much more does it cost than standard # 8?
I concur with all the above.What is ONP#9?
Have you all seen the specs on the new Palm mill at King’s Lynn? 400,000T/Y of 100% DIP news on one machine.
Will the lack of demand for recycled fibers force govt. subsidies to ensure recycling.
Does the majority even care?
If we lose even more of our valuable industry to foreign intrest will our economy ever recover?
Hey Steve,
Thanks for responding. Actually, these companies did not go out of business due to a lack of demand for recyled fiber. Just the opposite. Demand for recycled fiber is much greater than supply – and so prices for recycled fiber are very high. (In addition, with demand so high, quality has deteriorated) These high prices (high costs for recycled mills) are why our recycled mills are in jeopardy.
verle
Ross wrote,
It’s mainly a question of supply. With consumption of newsprint in North America down more than 50% in the last 10 years, the generation of ONP is presumably down by a similar percentage. Whatever has happened to the generation of virgin fiber, it isn’t down by 50%. And on the demand side, while domestic demand is undoubtedly down a lot, we’ve seen a huge increase in Chinese demand for North American ONP, so the availability to North American newsprint mills is down by much more than 50%.
Do I get a prize if I’m right? Do you accept partially correct answers from retirees?
1- Fiber cost is measured at the paper machine’s headbox and should recognize all relative costs including the cost of the contamination and its disposal. The market price for fresh newsprint is the “market price” regardless if it is 100% virgin, 100% recycled-content, or some % in between.
2- Major issues are a- contamination in the recovered materials used for deinking; b- lack of demand for recycled-newsprint over virgin newsprint.
3- Global demand for groundwood grades (newsprint) exceeds supply; recovery rate of old newspapers and related commodities is quite high.
4- Yes, publishers should work with newsprint producers to maximize their consumption of recycled-content newsprint. Demand for the product will keep exisitng mills open and excess demand may encourage closed mills to re-open.
Hi Ralph,
Thanks for your response. Just a minor clarification for your comment. Item 3. I think you meant that global demand for recovered “groundwood” paper exceeds supply. I would imagine that we agree that there is an excess of global newsprint supply.
I approach the problem differently. You suggest that increasing demand for recycled newsprint “will keep existing recycled machines open” and “may encourage closed mills to re-open”. I have empathy for the recycled mills in danger of closing, but the goal (environmental, political, economic) is not to keep these machines running. The point is to use up all the paper being recovered, and we are doing that.
The way to give these recycled machines a fighting chance is to establish quotas for exports of recovered paper, and require that these quotas decline as the volume of recovered paper falls. But there is not much time. This action needs to be implemented soon, before it is too late.
verle