Posted on August, 28 2018

China is the world's largest producer of paper and paper products. The importance of recycled paper in papermaking fibers is evident -- since 2000, almost all incremental carton paper in China came from recycled fibers.

With the fast development of the paper industry, inadequate separation and recycling of domestic waste paper has led to the underutilization of large amounts of recycled waste paper, which in turn results in far lower quality and pulp yield than those of imported waste paper. 

Many enterprises are forced to turn to and rely on imported recycled paper. However, in 2017, the government of China implemented an import ban for 24 types of solid waste, including waste plastics from living sources, unsorted waste paper, waste textile raw materials and unclassified waste paper. 

The report provides an overview of the current state of paper recycling in China and provides recommendations to address issues that different stakeholders may face.