PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Brussels,6 November 2008

BIRAutumn Round-Table Sessions

Düsseldorf,30-31 October 2008

PaperDivision:

BIR‘Papyrus Award’ for French company Emin Leydier

Recentweeks have been “some of the most challenging in our lifetimes”,the BIR Paper Division meeting in Düsseldorf was told by itsPresident, Ranjit Baxi of J & H Sales International in the UK.

Priceshave weakened sharply, trade has slowed dramatically, lines of credithave tightened and some buyers have been unable to “meet with theirpayment obligations”, according to Mr Baxi. Taking leadingrecovered paper importer China as his example, he noted that thecountry’s purchases had been weaker in the third quarter comparedto the first half of 2008 and that the Asian giant’s import growthis likely to be limited to around 6% for the year as a whole - “muchless than what we have been seeing in the past”. This decelerationappears likely to continue in 2009, he added.

ThePresident of the US Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries’ PaperStock Industries chapter George Chen told delegates in his guestpresentation that rising labour costs are making China’s milloperators increasingly reluctant to sort poor-quality importedrecovered paper. Therefore, supplying a poor-quality product may welllead to rejections, he warned.

Fellowguest speaker Horst Menge, Raw Materials Co-Ordinator at MyllykoskiContinental GmbH in Germany, underlined the quality demands of modernpapermaking machines and called for closer, practical co-operationbetween mills and their recovered paper suppliers.

Whilemarket conditions offered little cheer, the mood in Düsseldorf waslifted by the first-ever award of the BIR “Papyrus” prize. Therecipient was family-owned Emin Leydier which operates two papermills in France and consumes some 800,000 tonnes of recovered paperper annum. The award was accepted by the company’s ChristopheLeydier and Yves Herbaut, who underlined the firm’s conviction thatrecovered paper usage leads to a valuable reduction in greenhouse gasemissions.

MrBaxi said Emin Leydier deserved this recognition for growing itsrecovered paper consumption and for promoting partnership with itssuppliers. According to the Paper Division’s President, othercriteria that would be considered in identifying future “Papyrus”prize winners include: a record of innovation in the use of recoveredfibre; and exceptional leadership in social, quality andenvironmental management.

Inher report on European Recovered Paper Association affairs, theorganisation’s President Merja Helander of Paperinkeräys Oy inFinland welcomed a recent monitoring report which confirmed that thepaper recycling rate in Europe reached 64.5% last year and that theindustry is on track to meet its voluntary target of 66% by 2010. Itis also “great news”, she added, that cellulose fibre has beenexempted from the demands of the EU’s REACh chemical regulationsand therefore falls outside of registration/pre-registrationrequirements.

MsHelander also endorsed the voluntary European Recovered PaperIdentification System launched by the Confederation of European PaperIndustries (CEPI) in late October. The initiative enables recoveredpaper suppliers to register on a website (www.recoveredpaper-id.eu)for a unique supplier code that will then be added to their recoveredpaper bales.

Onanother positive note, it was revealed by BIR World PresidentDominique Maguin of France that Mr Baxi has recently been named“Asian of the Year” at aceremony organised by “Asian Who’s Who International”, apublication about leading Asians in the UK.

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