No matter that Australia’s newsprint consumption fell by an estimated ten per cent last year: Recovery of old newsprint remained at world leading levels, yhr Publishers National Environment Bureau says.

The annual newsprint recovery and recycling report shows that in 2011, 77.7 per centof all Australian newsprint was recovered – consistent with 2009 and close to the 2010 peak. It compares with an average recycling rate in Europe of less than 70.0 per cent.

Lillias Bovell,  executive director of the PNEB, which commissions the report, says the industry recognised recovery of old newsprint had continued to achieve good results in a difficult market.

“Every endeavour is made to recover recycle old newspapers. Our country’s consistent performance is testimony to Australians’ commitment to recycling as well as to the producers, publishers and recovery operators who make Australia the best,” she says.

“We can all be proud of our efforts. It seems that we are reaching a natural limit in the amount of newsprint that can be recovered.

“The last three years the record recovery rate has effectively stayed the same at around 78 per cent of the total newsprint consumption.”

Independent consulting firm IndustryEdge collated and analysed the data and compiled the report. Founder and director Robert Eastment says the recovery rate remained high even though the market is changing sharply: “For example, exports of old newsprint were greater than one-third of the recovered total for the first time,” he says.

The recovery rate fell by one per cent to 77.7 per cent, from a record high the previous year. “However, while the long-term trend in improving recovery rates for ONP has been consistently good, in 2011 the newsprint market was dramatically different with the level of consumption falling by a significant 9.5 per cent. Newsprint consumption in Australia fell by almost ten per cent in 2011.”