It has been revealed that Hampshire Council has been sending 67% of their paper to China for recycling. This highlights the importance of a sustainable recycling process and chain of custody.
The Daily Echo has reported that 67% of Hampshire’s paper waste has been shipped 11,000 miles across the globe to be processed in China, despite there being a Paper Recycling Processing plant 100 miles away in Kent. This excerpt is taken from the CIWM article, which you can find here: Hampshire Criticised For Sending Paper Recycling To China Seán Woodward, the county council’s executive member for the economy, transport and environment, responded in an email sent to all county councillors, explaining that the recent closure of a number of UK paper mills – UPM Shotton, in Wales, and Aylesford Newsprint, in Kent – has resulted in a “significant reduction in available UK paper processing capacity, which has led to significant market fluctuation and instability.” He said:
“This has consequently resulted in a need for all local authorities to identify and secure alternative markets to continue to recycle this material.“In order to ensure that Hampshire paper continues to be recycled, Veolia has sought alternative markets both in the UK and abroad.“As a result, Hampshire paper is currently being processed in the UK as well as being exported to paper mills in China for recycling.”
This quote is taken from the Daily Echo, who originally reported the story: Alan Stone, leader of UKIP at the county council described the situation as a “farce”, saying that he had spoken to a mill in Kent which would be willing to recycle paper from Hampshire
“At a time when we are all told to reduce our carbon footprint, shipping the waste to China only increases it dramatically, despite adequate recycling facilities existing in the UK.”
You can view the full article from the Daily Echo here: ‘Farce’ of 11,000 mile journeys to China to recycle Hampshire’s paper This News story has highlighted the importance of Sustainable Recycling policies and best practices. You can read more information on these subjects in our Download centre articles:
Recycling process and secure shreddingSustainable environment and secure shreddingEnvironmental benefits of shredding and recycling Recycle Now have made a video of the paper recycling process, so you can see exactly what happens at the paper mills. The webpage has lots of other great facts and figures about recycling benefits for the environment. We at Topwood empty our Shred Truck everday at a local reputable Paper Recycling plant. The paper is pulped, baled, and the bales are processed into large paper sheets to be used for new paper products. We also run a tree-planting scheme for every 2 tonnes of paper we recycle. You can read about Topwood’s Sustainable Service in our FAQ: How environmentally friendly is your paper shredding service?
