Brazilian recycled P/W paper sales are halved past five years, according to Bignardi Papéis' sales director, Alexandre Duckur. The executive stated that data compiled by the Brazilian Tree Industry Assn (Ibá, former Bracelpa) show a volume of 63,553 tonnes of recycled P/W paper sold in 2009. "The numbers have been falling year after year and bottomed at 35,887 tonnes in 2013. The volume is estimated to decline further to 28,523 tonnes in 2014," Duckur said.

Duckur added that the recycled P/W paper category accounted for 10% of total P/W demand in Brazil in 2009, and now this accounts for only 2-3% of that market. According to Ibá, Brazilian P/W apparent consumption reached 2.26 million tonnes in 2013 with domestic sales totaling 1.70 million tonnes.

According to the Brazilian Technical Standard Assn (ABNT), recycled P/W paper has to contain a minimum of 25% of pre-consumption recovered fiber plus at least 25% of post-consumption recovered fiber. 

On a lecture at ABTCP's 47th Pulp and Paper International Conference, Duckur explained that virgin fiber based paper suppliers carried on a "systematic deconstruction in the media about the recycled paper benefits and its industrial process" in order to detain its consumption growth. "The corporate market is the engine which drives most part of the recycled paper consumption and we've lost iconic buyers, including some banks which aimed to have a more eco-friendly image."

According to Duckur, it was ventilated in the market that recycled paper production in Brazil wasn't very environmentally friendly due to high water, chemicals and energy consumption rates. "But we have one of the lowest water consumption rates in the industry at 7m³/tonne of paper, and our effluent discharge is 50% lower (than virgin fiber based paper). Besides that, the recycling industry in Brazil opted for a unique standard to produce recycled paper, with a more natural color coming from the mix of different recovered fibers, avoiding extreme bleaching processes," the executive said.

Duckur also commented that recycled UWF (uncoated woodfree) paper prices are similar to virgin fiber based paper, or even lower in some cases, even though they really cost more at retailers. "The recycled paper has been overpriced by resellers which aimed to boost their profits by telling customers that they should pay more for a sustainable product," Duckur explained.

Suppliers. Bignardi is one of the producers of recycled P/W paper in Brazil, with an annual output of 60,000 tonnes at its Jundiaí mill, in São Paulo state. The company was at the final list of RISI'S PPI Awards in 2012 on the water efficiency category.

PPI Latin America contacted the two largest UWF paper producers in Brazil, International Paper (IP) and Suzano, but the firms would not to comment on the recycled paper consumption decrease in the country.

Both companies trade recycled cutsize and offset papers in Brazil. Suzano states on its website that their recycled line, branded as Report Reciclato, enables the reduction of solid waste, promotes natural resource conservation and social integration of paper collectors that work on the streets. 

IP sells the recycled cutsize brand Chamex Eco and the offset Chambril Ebo. On a FAQ (frequent asked questions) online page, IP explains that both production processes of white and recycled paper include all the care necessary to guarantee environmental conservation and to control the impact caused by the production chain; the main difference between both processes is on stock preparation process, when the recycled paper demands several processing, treatment and purification stages, involving additional costs and procedures. 

"The lack of information has created erroneous perceptions about white and recycled paper production. This is because the sustainability of paper production is not limited to recycling and involves issues such as the consumption of water and energy," IP states

Fonte - http://www.risiinfo.com/pulp-paper/ppila/Brazilian-recycled-PW-paper-sales-are-halved.html