Indonesia to Use ISRI Specs for Scrap Paper Imports

The Indonesian government is adjusting the changes it proposed in May to its regulations on imports of recovered paper, with plans to use ISRI scrap paper specifications to address its concerns about contaminants in incoming shipments.

The government’s proposed changes would have required 100% preshipment inspections, a 0.5% contamination limit in incoming shipments that are “clean, dry, and homogenous,” and the separation of containers into bales.

Instead, the government announced recently it will apply the ISRI specifications for recovered paper—Guidelines for Paper Stock: PS-2018—to such imports, including using the specs’ general limits of 1 to 2% prohibitives and 3 to 4% outthrows on imported recovered paper. The government also reportedly will use the ISRI specifications to define its use of the word “homogenous” in describing the condition of bales.

 ISRI worked with stakeholders and government officials in Indonesia in recent months on industry standards and practices, and the association hails the Indonesian government’s decision to follow ISRI specifications as “a move that will benefit paper recyclers and provide clear guidance on the trade of recovered paper.” 

Adina Renee Adler, ISRI’s Assistant Vice President of International Affairs, and Past PSI Chapter President George Chen of G&T Trading International Corp. will visit Jakarta in two weeks to meet with Indonesian government officials and encourage them to make the most recent changes to the scrap import regulations permanent.

For more information, contact Adina Renee Adler, ISRI’s Assistant Vice President of International Affairs, (202) 662-8514 or aadler@isri.org.

For information on joining ISRI and the PSI Chapter—ISRI’s national paper chapter—contact Essence Morris, (202) 662-8509 or emorris@isri.org.