The global recession has led to a downturn in the demand for recycled paper, which has left a buildup of recycled paper piling up at sites around the United Kingdom. Recycling firms claim that the market is starting to turn around but also question whether or not it is financially viable to keep our used paper out of landfills. Normally much of the paper in the United Kingdom gets shipped to other countries, but the economic crisis dried up the market in 2008 and industry insiders are not sure when or if it is going to return.
As the economies of India and China started to slow in 2008, the demand for used paper quickly diminished, leaving sites around the United Kingdom littered with piles of paper. Most of what is known as mixed paper, which means paper that could possibly be contaminated with other materials, is shipped to China to be recycled in huge paper mills. This market went dry after the global economy collapsed, which highlighted a problem with the current system.
What recyclers in the United Kingdom have learned from this problem is that the UK relies far too heavily on other nations to do its recycling. The market for used paper has fallen dramatically in the past year. A tonne of mixed paper used to get anywhere from sixty five to seventy five pounds when paper was at its peak price. A tone of mixed paper today sells for less than fifteen pounds.
Waste management experts say that many local councils based budgets on the higher numbers and that this highlights the need for the United Kingdom to build additional paper mills within the UK.
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