聭Could do better鈥� seems a harsh verdict on a country that has single-handedly revitalised the paper recycling industry. But when that country is as large as China is, even a small improvement could have a global benefit.
A report by identifies China as an unlikely force for environmental good.
Since 2002, the country has recycled 65 million tonnes of the world鈥檚 waste paper, and in 2006 alone it saved 54.3 million tonnes of trees from being pulped.
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The 2006 noted that 鈥渢he loss of natural forests contributes more to annual global emissions than the transport sector鈥�.
鈥淏efore China became interested in using waste paper as a fibre source, the market was really flat and hadn鈥檛 changed for years,鈥� says Luke Bailey of Forest Trends.
Unsustainable imports
But the report also highlights a new trend in China鈥檚 paper industry. Not content with being the world鈥檚 wastepaper basket, China also imports wood pulp to produce high-quality printing paper.
Although around two-thirds of that wood pulp is sourced from sustainable forests in the Americas and Europe, the rest comes from unsustainable sources in Indonesia and Eastern Russia.
Forest Trends wants to see an end to that practice, and believes that pressurising China, rather than Indonesia or Russia, can lead to change.
鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 in a central position, it can influence the countries that supply it, as well as being sensitive to the markets it supplies,鈥� Bailey says. 鈥淭argeting Indonesia would simply raise the price [of wood pulp] and make it cheaper for another country to import illegally to China. By going for the nexus, we鈥檙e hoping to affect the broader market.鈥�
The report recommends that Chinese paper companies should adopt systems, such as the one used by the (FSC), to track pulp and pulpwood all along the supply chain in order to verify it comes from legal and sustainable forests.
