Confederation of European Paper Industries

The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) represents the European pulp and paper associations towards the European institutions and has its seat in Brussels, Belgium. It monitors, analyses and acts upon EU legislation and initiatives relevant to the industry, communicating on the industry’s achievements and the benefits of its products. CEPI is member of the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA).

In 1992 CEPI was founded by a merger of CEPAC (Confédération Européenne de l’Industrie des pates, papiers et cartons) and EPI (European Paper Institute). At that time CEPI had 15 member organisations.

List of chairmen:

In 1997 the Czech Pulp and Paper Association SPPAC became associate member of CEPI and in 1999 the Slovakian association followed. Hungary joined in 2001 and Poland not until 2003. In 2004 all four associate members became regular members, at the same time when their countries officially joined the European Union. In 2006 the Danish and Irish associations ceased to be members of CEPI. Slovenia joined CEPI in January 2010. Switzerland ceased to be a member in 2012 which brings the number of members to 18.

Through its 18 member countries (17 European Union members plus Norway), CEPI represents 505 pulp, paper and board producing companies across Europe, ranging from small and medium-sized companies to multi-nationals, and 920 pulp and paper mills.

The European paper industry produces 92 million tonnes of paper and board and more than 35 million tonnes of pulp annually. It provides directly 178,000 jobs and indirectly 3 million jobs along the forest and paper chain. Through its 18 member countries CEPI represents 633 pulp, paper and board producing companies across Europe, ranging from small and medium-sized companies to multi-nationals, and 917 paper mills. Together they represent 20.5% of world production.

The European pulp and paper industry is the largest industrial producer and consumer of energy from renewable sources. Its share of biomass-based energy exceeds 55% of its total primary annual energy consumption of 1,301,483 TJ in 2014.

Paper for recycling is a major source of the paper industry’s raw material, which is why the industry pushes for new heights for the European recycling rate. The recycling rate reached 71.5% in 2015 - exceeding the voluntary target of 70% that was set by the industries declaration in 2011 - along the paper value chain (ERPC). The total amount of paper collected and sent to recycling in paper mills in 2015 was almost 56 million tonnes, an increase of 28.1% since 2000. 18.2% was exported for recycling in third countries.

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