Pulp and paper industry in Europe
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The pulp and paper industry in Europe accounts for about a quarter of world production and is a major employer. The leading producing countries are
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, Sweden and
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. The industry is a large user of renewable energy and achieved a recycling rate of 71.5% in 2015.


Production data

The European
paper industry The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process The pulp is fed to a paper machine where it is formed as a paper web a ...
produces more than 90 million tonnes of paper and board and more than 36 million tonnes of pulp annually. Directly it provides 178,000 jobs and indirectly 3 million jobs along the forest and paper chain.CEPI Sustainability Report
CEPI Sustainability Report 2013
The European paper industry's turnover is approximately 180 billion euros. 633 companies are represented by the
Confederation of European Paper Industries The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) is the pan-European association representing the forest fibre and paper industry. Through its 18 national associations, CEPI gathers 495 companies operating more than 900 pulp and paper mills a ...
(CEPI) and these account for 23% of world production. The raw material consists of 40% recycled fibre and 44% virgin pulp, the balance being other pulp (1%) and non-fibrous materials (15%). 94% of the wood requirements come from managed forests within Europe. In national terms the largest ''paper'' producer is Germany, followed by Finland, Sweden and France; the largest ''pulp'' producers are Finland and Sweden. The two largest European companies in the sector,
Stora Enso Stora Enso Oyj (from sv, Stora and fi, Enso ) is a manufacturer of pulp, paper and other forest products, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. The majority of sales takes place in Europe, but there are also significant operations in Asia and S ...
and
UPM UPM may refer to: * Ultra-pure metal * UPM (company), UPM-Kymmene Oyj, a pulp and paper company * Union pour la méditerrannée, Mediterranean Community * Union for a Popular Movement, opposition party of France * Unit production manager, someone ...
, are both based in Finland.


Renewable energy

The European pulp and paper industry is the largest industrial producer and consumer of energy from
renewable source Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
s. Its share of biomass-based energy exceeds 55% of its total primary annual energy consumption of 1,301,483 TJ. The sector has adopted an objective to reduce carbon emissions of 80% by 2050, which is likely to involve new technological methods to reduce water usage and thus reduce energy usage.


Recycling

Paper for recycling is a major source of the paper industry's raw material, which is why the industry aims to maximise the European recycling rate. The recycling rate along the paper value chain (ERPC) reached 71.5% in 2015 - exceeding the voluntary target of 70% that was set by the industries declaration in 2011. The total amount of paper collected and sent to recycling in paper mills in 2015 was almost 56 million tonnes. 18.2% was exported for recycling in third countries in 2015. The recycling rate is now considered close to its maximum possible.


Innovation

In 2011, the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) launched the “2050 Roadmap to a low-carbon bioeconomy”, as the very first European manufacturing industry sector to react to the European Commission's roadmap towards a
low-carbon economy A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mi ...
with its own sector roadmap. The “Two Team Project”, which ran in 2013, sought to find the most innovative breakthrough technologies of the industry with two teams competing against each other. Eight breakthrough technologies made it to the publication. In 2015, CEPI collected more than 40 of the industry's most innovative products in another publication, “The Age of Fibre”, showcasing once again the versatility and innovation in the industry.


Leading companies

In 2011 the top 10 forest and paper products companies in Europe were:''Global Forest & Paper Industry Survey''
PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2012


References


External links


European pulp & paper standards
PaperIndex
IPW
The magazine for the international pulp and paper industry
RISI
RISI Pulp and Paper Conferences and Events
TAPPI
Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry
The Paper Province
Top EU Clusters in High Innovation Regions
Paper OnlineCEPIPaperMartPaper Industry Directory
{{Forestry Industry in Europe Papermaking