EN 643 is the European List of Standard Grades of Paper and Board for Recycling and was revised in 2013. Interested parties should order the EN 643 from their respective national standardisation body. This guidance document has been created to give advice to sellers and buyers of paper for recycling on the changes to EN 643, from its 2002 version to the revised 2013 version. This document should assist the market and facilitate penetration of the revised EN 643.
The term Recovered Paper and Board has been substituted by the term Paper and Board for Recycling to highlight the intended use of this secondary raw material for paper recycling only. Furthermore, the European Recovered Paper Council has similarly changed the terminology within the new Declaration on Paper Recycling 2011–2015.
The term paper and board for recycling is defined as “natural fibre-based paper and board suitable for recycling; consisting of paper and board in any shape or product made predominantly from paper and board, which may include other constituents that cannot be removed by dry sorting, such as coatings, laminates, spiral bindings, etc.” Prohibited materials The revised EN 643 defines prohibited materials as “any materials which represent a hazard for health, safety and environment, such as medical waste, contaminated products of personal hygiene, hazardous waste, organic waste including foodstuffs, bitumen, toxic powders and similar.”
Unwanted material (outthrows) means “material not suitable for the production of paper and board” and may comprise the following elements:
Paper and board not according to grade definition is defined: when paper and board in the load does not correspond to the description of the specific EN 643 grade of paper for recycling, the buyer and seller of the load should agree to a return of the material or a re-grade (either to another EN 643 grade or to a non-standard delivery).
Paper and board detrimental to production. The definition of paper and board detrimental to production now specifies that “for grades intended for deinking, all paper containing brown, unbleached fibres are considered detrimental to production.” General Requirements There is now a recommendation within EN 643 to make use of the “European Recovered Paper Identification System” (RPID). This system allows for the establishment of identification for the paper for recycling purchased, received, stored and consumed in paper mills.
The ultimate goal of the RPID is to improve the traceability of the paper mill’s supply to improve safe and secure paper production processes and products. This system and its functioning are explained in more detail at the website www.recoveredpaper-id.eu On this website, suppliers of paper for recycling can register to the system and get personal supplier codes.
Grades usually intended for deinking are: 1.06.00, 1.06.01, 1.06.02, 1.07.00, 1.09.00, 1.11.00, 2.01.00, 2.02.01, 2.03.00, 2.03.01, 2.04.00, 2.04.01, 2.05.00, 2.05.01, 2.06.00, 2.06.01, 2.07.00, 2.07.01, 2.08.00, 2.12.00, 2.13.00, 3.01.00, 3.02.00, 3.03.00, 3.03.01, 3.04.00, 3.05.00, 3.06.00, 3.08.00, 3.09.00, 3.10.00, 3.10.01, 3.11.00, 3.11.01, 3.12.00, 5.05.00, 5.05.01, 5.09.00, 5.10.00 and 5.10.01.
EN 643 now mentions the increasing problem of shredding of paper for recycling and advises to leave shredding sizes as large as possible where practicable.
A major change in the new EN 643 is the introduction of maximum tolerance levels for non-paper components (maximum of 1.5% for the majority of grades) and for unwanted materials. The grade lists within EN 643 now contain two additional columns defining the maximum tolerance levels within each paper for recycling grade for “non-paper components” and “unwanted materials”. Note: the tolerance of non-paper components is included as part of the tolerance of unwanted materials; they are not exclusive and cannot be added together. The percentages refer to weight by weight. Their weight in the product should be tested by an agreed method of sampling and measurement.
Further guidance can be found in the “Guidelines for paper mills for the control of the content of unusable materials in recovered paper”. A further major change is the description of the grades according to their composition rather than according to their origin. For some grades, only the title has changed while the description remained identical.
Group 1: Ordinary Grades
1.01 Mixed paper and board, unsorted, but unusable materials removed –
A mixture of various grades of paper and board, without restriction on short fibre
content.
1.02 Mixed papers and boards (sorted) – A mixture of various qualities of paper and board, containing a maximum of 40% of newspapers and magazines.
1.03 Grey board – Printed and unprinted white lined and unlined grey board or mixed board, free from corrugated material.
1.04 Supermarket corrugated paper and board – Used paper and board packaging, containing a minimum of 70% of corrugated board, the rest being solid board and wrapping papers.
1.05 Old corrugated containers- Used boxes and sheets of corrugated board of various qualities.
1.06 Unsold magazines- Unsold magazines, with or without glue.
1.06.01 Unsold magazines without glue
1.07 Telephone books- New and used telephone books, with unlimited content of pages coloured in the mass, with and without glue. Shavings allowed.
1.08 Mixed newspapers and magazines A mixture of newspapers and magazines, containing a minimum of 50% of newspapers, with or without glue.
1.09 Mixed newspapers and magazines A mixture of newspapers and magazines, containing a minimum of 60% of newspapers, with or without glue.
1.10 Mixed magazines and newspapers A mixture of newspapers and magazines, containing a minimum of 60% of magazines, with or without glue.
1.11 Sorted graphic paper for deinking - Sorted graphic paper from households, newspapers and magazines, each at a minimum of 40%. The percentage of non-deinkable paper and board should be reduced over time to a maximum level of 1.5%. The actual percentage is to be negotiated between buyer and seller.
Group 2: Medium Grades
2.01 Newspapers Newspapers, containing a maximum of 5% of newspapers or advertisements coloured in the mass.
2.02 Unsold newspapers- Unsold daily newspapers, free from additional inserts or illustrated material coloured in the mass.
2.02.01 Unsold newspapers, no flexo-graphic printing allowed Unsold daily newspapers, free from additional inserts or illustrated material coloured in the mass, strings allowed. No flexo-graphic printed material allowed.
2.03 Lightly printed white shavings- Lightly printed white shavings, mainly mechanical pulp-based paper.
2.03.01 Lightly printed white shavings without glue, Lightly printed white shavings, mainly mechanical pulp-based paper, without glue.
2.04 Heavily printed white shavings, mainly mechanical pulp-based paper.
2.04.01 Heavily printed white shavings without glue, Heavily printed white shavings, mainly mechanical pulp-based paper, without glue.
2.05 Sorted office paper
2.06 Coloured letters Correspondence, in mixed papers coloured in the mass, with or without print, of printing or writing paper. Free from carbon paper and hard covers.
2.07 White wood free books- Books, including misprints of books, without hard covers, mainly of wood free white paper, black printed only. Containing a maximum of 10% of coated paper.
2.08 Coloured wood free magazines- Coated or uncoated magazines, white or coloured in the mass free from non-flexible covers, bindings, non-dispersible inks and adhesives, poster papers, labels or label trim. May include heavily printed circulars and coloured in the mass shavings. Containing a maximum of 10% mechanical pulp-based papers.
2.09 Carbonless copy paper
2.10 Bleached woodfree PE-coated board from board manufacturers and converters.
2.11 Other PE-coated board. May contain unbleached board and paper from board manufacturers and converters.
2.12 Continuous computer printout, mechanical pulp-based, sorted by colours, may include recycled fibres.
Group 3: High Grades
3.01 Mixed lightly coloured printer shavings- Mixed shavings of printing and writing papers, lightly coloured in the mass, containing a minimum of 50% of wood free paper.
3.02 Mixed lightly coloured wood free printer shavings- Mixed shavings of printing and writing papers, lightly coloured in the mass, containing a minimum of 90% of wood free paper.
3.03 Wood free binders- White wood free lightly printed shavings with glue, free from paper coloured in the mass. May contain a maximum of 10% of mechanical pulp-based paper.
3.04 Tear white shavings- White wood free lightly printed shavings without glue, free from wet-strength paper and paper coloured in the mass.
3.05 White wood free letters- Sorted white wood free writing papers, originating from office records, free from cash books, carbon paper and non-water soluble adhesives.
3.06 White business forms- White wood free printed business forms.
3.07 White wood free computer print-out- White wood free computer print-out, free from carbonless paper and glue.
3.08 Printed bleached sulphate board- Heavily printed sheets of bleached sulphate board, without glue, polycoated or waxed materials.
3.09 Lightly printed bleached sulphate board- Lightly printed sheets of bleached sulphate board, without glue, polycoated or waxed materials.
3.10 Multi printing- Wood free, coated, lightly printed, free from wet-strength paper or paper coloured in the mass.
3.11 White heavily printed multiply board- New cuttings of heavily printed white multiply board, containing wood free, mechanical or thermo-mechanical pulp plies, but without grey plies.
3.12 White lightly printed multiply board- New cuttings of lightly printed white mulitply board, containing woodfree, mechanical or thermo-mechanical pulp plies, but without grey plies.
3.13 White unprinted multiply board- New cuttings of unprinted white multiply board, containing woodfree, mechanical or thermo-mechanical pulp plies, but without grey plies.
3.14 White newsprint Shavings and sheets of white unprinted newsprint, free from magazine paper.
3.15 White mechanical pulp-based coated and uncoated paper Shavings and sheets of white unprinted coated and uncoated mechanical pulp-based paper.
3.15.01 White mechanical pulp-based paper containing coated paper Shavings and sheets of white unprinted mechanical pulp based coated paper.
3.16 White wood free coated paper, without glue -Shavings and sheets of white unprinted wood free coated paper, without glue.
3.17 White shavings- Shavings and sheets of white unprinted paper, free from newsprint and magazine paper containing a minimum of 60% of wood free paper; may contain a maximum of 10% of coated paper. Without glue.
3.18 White wood free shavings- Shavings and sheets of white unprinted wood free paper, may contain a maximum of 5% of coated paper. Without glue.
3.18.01 White wood free uncoated shavings-Shavings and sheets of white unprinted wood free paper, free from coated paper. Without glue.
3.19 Unprinted bleached sulphate board- Unprinted sheets of bleached sulphate board, without glue, polycoated or waxed materials.
Group 4: Kraft Grades
4.01 New shavings of corrugated board- Shavings of corrugated board, with liners of kraft or testliner.
4.01.01 Unused corrugated kraft, unused boxes, sheets and shavings of corrugated board, with kraft liners only, the fluting made from chemical or thermochemical pulp.
4.01.02 Unused corrugated material, unused boxes, sheets and shavings of corrugated board, with liners of kraft or testliner.
4.02 Used corrugated kraft 1, used boxes of corrugated board, with kraft liners only, the fluting made from chemical or thermo-chemical pulp.
4.03 Used corrugated kraft 2, used boxes of corrugated board, with liners of kraft or testliners but having at least one liner made of kraft.
4.04 Used kraft sacks, clean used kraft sacks. Wet-strength and non wet-strength.
4.04.01 Used kraft sacks with polycoated papers, Clean used kraft sacks. Wet-strength and non wet-strength. May include polycoated papers.
4.05 Unused kraft sacks, wet-strength and non wet-strength.
4.05.01 Unused kraft sacks with polycoated papers, unused kraft sacks. Wet-strength and non wet-strength, may include polycoated papers.
4.06 Used kraft- used kraft paper and board of a natural or white shade.
4.07 New kraft- Shavings and other new kraft paper and board of a natural shade.
4.08 New carrier kraft New carrier kraft, may include wet-strength paper.
Group 5: Special Grades
5.01 Mixed recovered paper and board-Unsorted paper and board, separated at source.
5.02 Mixed packaging- A mixture of various qualities of used paper and board packaging, free from newspapers and magazines.
5.03 Liquid board packaging- Used liquid packaging board including used PE-coated liquid packaging board (with or without aluminium content), containing a minimum of 50% by weight of fibres, and the balance being aluminium or coatings.
5.04 Wrapper kraft
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