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Kent paper mill’s relocation to France is a backward step
for UK sustainability.
The UK's only paper mill that
can recycle and manufacture high quality office paper has announced
today that it will be relocating its paper production to France at the end of the year,
to be replaced with a cardboard manufacturing plant. Paper accounts for
6% of the UK's environmental impact, which can be reduced by 93%
if offices recycle to a local paper mill and then buy the paper
back. BioRegional is calling for more government support to enable
business to go green.
BioRegional has established local paper loops in London and Surrey,
with over 2,000 organisations now diverting 5,800 tonnes/year from
landfill and buying back 1,600 tonnes from the mill in Kent. BioRegional
also set-up The Laundry, central London's recycling scheme for small
businesses, encouraging them to adopt the local paper loop approach.
When M-Real move their production to France at the end of the year,
the environmental impact of the UK’s office paper usage will
increase.
Sue Riddlestone, Director of BioRegional, said: "This is a
backward step for sustainability. Recycling capacity in the UK will
be cut, and businesses in the UK will have to buy recycled paper from abroad.
If our government is serious about recycling and tackling climate change
then it should do what it can to encourage mills like this one in Kent to continue
to operate in the UK.”
Notes:
1. M-Real are selling the New Thames paper mill in Kent to DS Smith,
who will convert the mill to produce corrugated packaging. The de-inking plant
will continue to operate by the pulp produced will be sent to M-Real
at Alizay in France, where it will be made into the Evolve paper product.
The pulp needs to be dried before
shipping, increasing energy use at the de-inking plant in Kent, reducing the amount that can be
recycled by 33% and increasing transportation.
2. Paper accounts for 6% of the
UK’s ecological footprint - a measure of the environmental
resources we use. Office paper is the highest quality type of graphics
paper, and being almost pure cellulose, has the highest environmental
impact of all paper in manufacture. Just 36% of this paper grade
is collected for recycling and the recycled content of office paper
purchased in the UK is 5%. A lifecycle assessment by Surrey University
showed that the ecological footprint of the local paper loop is
93% lower than buying virgin paper from abroad and then throwing
it away.
3. Grants have been given
to tyre recycling companies after European regulations banned them
from landfill, but no direct support has been given to recycled
paper mills. The Climate Change Levy has also made it expensive
to produce paper in the UK. Although M-Real are moving for purely
commercial reasons, the government should have a strategy of keeping
sustainable manufacturing in the UK to enable sustainable consumption.
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