The UK paper industry has lent its voice to the growing clamour for action over the collapse in demand for waste material from Chinese recyclers, urging the government to bolster domestic UK recycling capacity to help limit the risk of a repeat of the current crisis. Demand for waste paper, cardboard, plastics and metals has collapsed in recent weeks with many of the Chinese recycling firms that dominate the global industry refusing to buy material from the UK and Europe amidst fears a recession will dampen demand for its products. The price of a tonne of cardboard has reportedly collapsed from £40 to being virtually worthless, leaving many UK councils and waste management firms having to store material that they can no longer sell on.
In a statement released yesterday, the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) warned that while demand for paper waste from China was likely to recover in the medium term there were 'no obvious signs of Far East buyers returning to the market soon'.
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