The social environmental concern is increasing rapidly in Japan. It causes more low grade waste paper collection by municipal organization. It causes much burden to pulp and paper industry to use more waste paper for their products. It forced to the increase of export to solve over collected lower grade waste paper to Asian countries who lack fiber resources for paper industry. In recent investment plan for waste paper utilization, it will be expected that the waste paper utilizing ratio of newsprint and wood contained paper grade will increase near future. As the results, total waste paper utilising ratio will be increase. There are many technical obstacles to increase the waste paper utilising ratio, but the effort of paper industry and cooperation of related industry will solve those difficult problems such as the elimination of stickies, hotmelts, UV-ink, toner printing, plastics lamination and so on.
The export of waste paper to Asian counties should be done constantly, not temporary, with Japanese advanced waste paper treating technologies to establish the paper industry in the countries.
There are many trials and studies to use waste paper other than paper, such as to use mulch, litter, building and interior materials, asphalt additives and so on. And some of them show promising results but they will need long time to establish a industry. One of the most concerned subject is converting waste paper to fuel. It will be most convenience way to solve the problems of over collected waste paper and low grade waste paper difficult to use paper industry. But there is a fear that if waste paper is utilized for fuel, it will consumes huge amount of waste paper and it causes competing between boardpaper production and energy source.
