The European Recovered Paper Council (ERPC) has adopted a revised version of its deinking scorecard, first published in 2008. The scorecard assesses the deinkability of a printed product, based on the results of the widely-accepted “INGEDE Method 11” laboratory deinking test procedure, developed by the International Association of the Deinking Industry (INGEDE).

Printed paper products clearly contribute to the circular economy. Deinking, the removal of printing inks, is a major step in their recycling process. “This revised scorecard ensures that more products can be recycled to similar quality levels as the original product. Our joint efforts prove that the paper value chain is working every day to improve on the sustainability profile of its products, responding to the latest policy developments”, says Beatrice Klose, Secretary General of Intergraf, one of the ERPC signatories.

The scorecard takes into account five parameters: luminosity, colour, cleanliness, ink elimination and filtrate darkening. Aside from editorial updates and improvements, the revised version contains updates on terminology, fibre yield and – for one product category – luminosity threshold and target as well as ink elimination target. In addition, there is now a better distinction between “Magazines” and “Low ink coverage products”, and an assessment of print products with very low ink coverage. An annex listing exemptions from testing for specific products with good deinkability properties is expected to be approved at a later stage.

The new deinking scorecard is available at:
http://www.paperforrecycling.eu/publications/erpc-publications

For more information, please contact the ERPC Secretariat, Ulrich Leberle, at
+32 2 627 49 23, +32 479 90 59 21, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit  www.paperforrecycling.eu

The European Recovered Paper Council (ERPC) was set up as an industry self-initiative in November 2000 to monitor progress towards meeting the paper recycling targets set out in the 2000 European Declaration on Paper Recycling. Since then the commitments in the Declaration are renewed every five years. In 2001 the ERPC committed itself to meeting and maintaining both a voluntary recycling rate target of 70% in the EU27 plus Switzerland and Norway by 2015 as well as qualitative targets in areas such as waste prevention, ecodesign, and research and development. In 2015, Members of the ERPC are ACE, CEPI, CITPA, EMFA, ERPA, ETS, FEPE, INGEDE, INTERGRAF. Supporters are EuPIA, FINAT and RADTECH Europe. The European Commission, DG Environment and DG Enterprise, are permanent observers to the ERPC.