Market Report
CVB Ecologistics acquires Veolia NL's waste paper facilities
NL-Tilburg, 19 April 2026
CVB Ecologistics has reached an agreement with Veolia Netherlands regarding the acquisition of its two recovered paper facilities in the Netherlands, namely those in Utrecht and The Hague. This is subject to a favourable recommendation from Veolia’s Works Council.
Veolia’s sites, formerly operating under the (family) names Van Scherpenzeel and Wildenberg respectively, handle and process 60,000 tonnes of waste paper annually with a workforce of 50.
The acquisition fits in with CVB Ecologistics’ strategy to achieve growth, on the one hand through organic growth – which is becoming increasingly difficult in the globally shrinking waste paper market – and through acquisitions.
Optimism hard to find in Berlin
The Last week at the BVSE conference in Berlin, the market mood was subdued. Whereas last year the conference hall was buzzing with euphoria over sharp price rises, this time the prevailing sentiment was one of concern about what lies ahead. And what lies ahead is certainly no small matter. An uncertain market with major challenges due to the war in Iran and even greater challenges on the horizon regarding regulations that certainly won’t help simplify exports to Asia. The implementation of DIWASS has now been postponed until the end of 2026, but in Berlin it became clear that today, barely a month before the electronic Annex VII notifications were due to start, there are still far more questions than answers. In addition, there is the forthcoming accreditation of paper and board mills in non-OECD countries, which in 2027 will be the only option for exporting to Asia at all.
With an annual surplus of recovered paper in the EU, cited at the conference as 4 million tonnes, it will be obvious that we will no longer have a level playing field in competition with the US, Japan and Oceania. There is not even the slightest idea yet of what exports and the like would look like with Annex VIIs, shipping companies that may not be keen to register with DIWASS, the ports of call that would need to be specified, and so on and so forth. In the session on DIWASS during the conference, it was repeatedly stated that this was an explanation of the expected German standard. It was also stated that every other EU country will interpret the system in its own way. What is new? Nothing, because it was also reported that Germany is doing everything it can to achieve ‘end-of-waste’ status. A status that already exists in some EU countries,
with all the complications that entails. It’s a mess.
Kelly McNamara’s address of trends in the waste paper market confirmed the picture that, whilst waste paper from packaging is still growing, waste paper from media and other printing sources continues to decline. Over 80% of the waste paper collected is now cardboard(grades), with the remainder comprising media and printing waste. A sobering picture for the waste paper trade, which is slowly moving towards a market consisting solely of low grades. Low margins guaranteed. Incidentally, Kelly did report that the price of occ (cardboard) would rise in the future, as demand would increase and collection would be unable to keep up.
So, whilst exports are not a cause for celebration at present, the local European market for low grades is still performing well. Demand is strong, despite more volume remaining on the market due to reduced exports. The paper and board industry also reports that the price increases announced in March and April have indeed been implemented, but notes that the rise in incoming orders is precisely the reason for this. When price increases are unavoidable, buyers tend to order more. The consequence of this, it is thought, is that activity will dip again in the run-up to the holidays and also during the holiday period.
For the middle and high grades, prices are remaining more or less at the same level. A little higher here, a little lower there. The low price quotations for tissue grades are noteworthy. Demand for these is limited. Cellulose (woodpulp) is apparently still more attractive, and stocks of recovered paper are high, partly due to the waste paper processing plant in Prudhoe (UK) which has still not started operations, with works there being severely delayed. However, collection is also declining, meaning there is a sort of balance at the moment.
Price indication
Price indication in Europe for low grades of recovered paper, sorted, baled and ex works are now between € 60 and € 80 per tonne. These prices are depending on quality, available volume, region and loaded weight.
Look here at the Price chart >>
The price chart gives an indication of the price of mixed paper, separately collected, in the Netherlands free delivered mill over the last 10 years.
Scrolling over the top of the columns gives the exact price indication in Euro's per ton.