Paper recycling: fiber is used to produce half paper and cardboard

In 2018, recovered fiber accounted for 50.2% of global paper and cardboard production – a figure that reflects just how embedded recycled paper has become in the supply chain for one of the world's most widely used materials.

Asia, the world's largest producer of recovered fiber

Asia leads global production of recovered fiber, driven by both the scale of its paper and packaging consumption and the collection infrastructure that's developed to support it – a reflection of how closely tied recovered fiber volumes are to the size of a region's overall paper economy.

More information on paper and cardboard recycling

The quality of recovered fiber depends heavily on how well it's sorted at collection – contamination from other materials, food residue, or mixed paper grades all affect how many times that fiber can be recycled before it's no longer usable. Accurate sorting at the front end is what keeps recovered fiber flowing back into production at the volumes the industry now depends on.

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