1 Mar. 2022. According to the green list exported by the European Union (EU) to non-OECD member states, the new EU waste rules have caused quite a stir in India's paper recycling industry.

In the new EU Regulation No. 2021/1840 published in the Official Journal of the European Union recently, the item (B3020) to which recycled paper belongs appears in the annex, indicating that recycled paper goods shipped from the EU to India will be banned. However, so far, India has allowed the import of waste paper from Europe, and has not publicly stated that it will reduce or prohibit imports. Therefore, some insiders in India believe that the ban is caused by the contact between the governments.

In response, Mr. Marc Ehrlich, CEO of VIPA Group of India, stated that EU Regulation 2021/1840 is a routine update to Regulation 1418/2007. The regulations have the following principles: The European Commission is obliged to regularly inform all non-OECD countries ( Including India) issued a questionnaire asking it to agree to the EU's transportation of different recycled material streams to the country, including waste paper, scrap metal, etc.

Mr. Ashok Bansal, director of India's NRAgarwal Company, also explained that according to market information, the European Union sends letters on plastics and waste disposal to every country where waste is exported every year, and obtains approval or disallowance from each country. This year, the EU also issued a confirmation letter to the Indian government to accept EU waste paper, but the Indian government did not reply to the EU. Therefore, the EU government tacitly accepted India's refusal to accept waste paper imports, which facilitated the ban on October 20, 2021. The notice to export waste paper to India is a matter of contact between governments.

Some people in the industry also believe that the Indian government does not actually intend to ban the import of waste paper from the EU. It is only the understanding of the updated EU regulations that led to such a ban. This is indeed an "unfortunate accident" and may be an "Oolong". ".

Many stakeholders believe that the Indian government's response is misunderstood, and they very much hope that the Indian government can quickly correct it. The industry hopes that the European Commission will resolve this issue as soon as possible after updating the regulations. For this issue to be resolved, it should be completed within a few weeks of receiving a response.

However, if the Indian government revises the ban, it may take 10 days, 1 month or 2 months, the exact time is not yet known. At present, many Indian paper mills have raised this issue to the central government and hope to resolve it as soon as possible.

If the problem is not resolved, according to the regulations, from November 16, 2021, European countries will no longer export waste paper to India.

Mr. Ashok Bansal, general manager of Nikita Papers in India, said in an interview that this unexpected ban will affect the production standards of paper mills, because we are accustomed to mixing OCC imported from Europe with domestic waste paper to improve paper performance. Strength value (BF), reaching 30% to 40%. This ban will disrupt the psychology of the domestic waste paper market in India, because the price of imported waste paper may rise in the coming months.

Currently, the European Union is waiting for a written confirmation from the Indian government, and then will initiate a correction procedure to correct the ban.