A first assessment of the data of the European Recovered Paper Identification System available to date shows that more than 500 recovered paper suppliers in Europe have already registered to the system. These represent a significant fraction of the volumes of recovered paper sent to paper mills. Recovered paper supplying companies owning several depots have used the option of registering their depots in the system. Public authorities have not yet started enquiring the origin of recovered paper bales with the help of the Identification System.

Last autumn, the European organisations along the recovered paper supply chain, CEPI, ERPA and FEAD, launched this European Recovered Paper Identification System allowing recovered paper suppliers to register for a unique supplier code for marking their recovered paper bales. The Recovered Paper Identification System is a voluntary scheme which can be applied in bi-lateral agreements between buyers and sellers of recovered paper.

This standard offers the possibility to apply a harmonized bale identification system in bilateral contracts when supplying recovered paper bales throughout Europe. Every member in the recovered paper chain keeps track of its supplier whereby business confidentiality is ensured. Public authorities may be granted an access to the supplier codes to be able to trace the origin of recovered paper bales when necessary.

As the European RP Identification System has become available, several paper mills have followed the recommendation by the European organisations to make use of the voluntary European Recovered Paper Identification System and have started asking their suppliers to identify the recovered paper accordingly. In cases where systems for supplier identification already existed, paper mills have started to adapt their contracts with their suppliers in order to comply with the requirements of the harmonized European system.

For more information, please see recoveredpaper-id.eu