BY THE end of the 1980s, 37 per cent of the paper and board consumed by the world was being collected and recycled to make more paper and board. While in the North it was environmental consciousness that brought about this recycling, in the South, poverty was the determining factor.

Now, however, environmental legislation has created a glut in the waste paper trade and, as a result, change is in store for the paper and board industry worldwide. For example, US waste shippers will no longer have any incentive to ship wastes to South Korea, Taiwan, Japan or Thailand, where waste paper is used in large quantities. And, newsprint manufacturers will have to start locating their mills nearer to waste paper collection centres.

usa leads the pack in quantity