Dive Brief:
- America Chung Nam Inc, a Chinese recovered commodity company, purchases recycled paper materials from Tucson, AZ as part of a ten-year contract.
- ReCommunity started the contract with the city in July of 2012. Around 2,500 tons of paper and cardboard is shipped monthly from the Tucson facility.
- ACNI plans to haul approximately 100 ocean containers per week from the Port of Tucson. The port is a dry seaport, allowing the city to deliver the containers filled with paper goods by rail. The recyclables are transported to California, where ocean liners receive the paper and deliver it to China.
Dive Insight:
Once reaching the final destination in China, the paper will be recycled into newsprint, packaging and sheets of paper. An issue facing the port is that even more paper is needed to keep the containers filled with paper — the Port of Tucson has the potential to handle the export of up to 400 containers per week. The director of business development for the Port of Tucson is exploring numerous options to keep the flow of paper coming in at a steady rate.
Although China’s “Green Fence” is causing the recycling market to suffer in the states and worldwide, does paper have the potential to become a viable commodity?
