Recovery & Use of Old Corrugated Containers (OCC)
After dipping from 92.8 percent in 2016 to 88.8 percent in 2017, the recovery rate for OCC/Unbleached Kraft papers rebounded to 96.4 percent in 2018. The sharp advance was fueled by a nearly 30 percent surge in net exports of OCC. Domestic mill consumption of OCC increased 2.8 percent in 2018.
Given the recent volatility in OCC markets, it is instructive to consider that the three-year average recovery rate for OCC (2016-18) works out to 92.7 percent.
In addition, a record trade deficit in consumer and industrial goods in 2018 increased the amount of corrugated packaging available for recovery in the U.S. Because there is no reliable data on the amount of such corrugated packaging that enters the U.S., it is not factored into the OCC recovery rate calculation. If it were, the OCC recovery rate would be several points lower than 96.4 percent. Learn more here.
| | At Paper and Board Mills
(000 tons) | Net Exports
(000 tons) | Total
(000 tons) | Containerboard
/Unbleached Kraft Paper Supply
(000 tons) | Recovery Rate | 3-Year Avg |
| 1993 | 13,562 | 2,338 | 15,900 | 29,200 | 54.5% |
| 1994 | 15,009 | 3,240 | 18,249 | 31,049 | 58.8% |
| 1995 | 16,513 | 3,894 | 20,407 | 31,402 | 65.0% |
| 1996 | 18,732 | 2,847 | 21,579 | 31,485 | 68.5% |
| 1997 | 19,641 | 2,381 | 22,022 | 32,525 | 67.7% |
| 1998 | 19,530 | 2,582 | 22,112 | 32,703 | 67.6% |
| 1999 | 20,457 | 2,189 | 22,646 | 34,454 | 65.7% |
| 2000 | 19,968 | 2,750 | 22,718 | 33,070 | 68.7% |
| 2001 | 19,348 | 2,923 | 22,271 | 31,732 | 70.2% |
| 2002 | 19,627 | 3,546 | 23,173 | 33,169 | 69.9% |
| 2003 | 19,294 | 4,386 | 23,680 | 32,549 | 72.8% |
| 2004 | 19,926 | 4,123 | 24,049 | 34,349 | 70.0% |
| 2005 | 20,024 | 4,665 | 24,689 | 33,603 | 73.5% |
| 2006 | 19,967 | 5,218 | 25,185 | 34,212 | 73.6% |
| 2007 | 20,159 | 5,418 | 25,577 | 34,083 | 75.0% |
| 2008 | 19,161 | 6,036 | 25,197 | 32,455 | 77.6% |
| 2009 | 17,415 | 6,836 | 24,251 | 29,490 | 82.2% |
| 2010 | 19,327 | 7,637 | 26,964 | 31,954 | 84.4% |
| 2011 | 19,339 | 9,784 | 29,123 | 32,137 | 90.6% |
| 2012 | 19,057 | 10,077 | 29,134 | 32,082 | 90.8% |
| 2013 | 19,805 | 9,177 | 28,982 | 32,434 | 89.4% |
| 2014 | 20,474 | 9,170 | 29,644 | 33,219 | 89.2% |
| 2015 | 21,184 | 10,141 | 31,326 | 33,728 | 92.9% |
| 2016 | 21,241 | 10,315 | 31,556 | 34,032 | 92.7% |
2017
| 21,987
| 9,276 | 31,263
| 35,212 | 88.8% |
2018
| 22,598
| 12,030 | 34,628
| 35,923
| 96.4% | 92.7% |
Source: At Paper & Board Mills: "AF&PA's Annual Capacity and Fiber Consumption Survey"; Net Exports: U.S. Census Bureau; CB & Kraft Paper Supply: AF&PA's "Paper Industry annual Statistical Summary"; OCC Recovery Rate: AF&PA
