The new national standard for recycled pulp officially takes effect on October 1. Use of unclean raw materials is strictly prohibited

On September 28, a reporter learned from the State Administration for Market Regulation that the newly revised national standard “Recycled Pulp” (GB/T 43393—2026) will officially take effect on October 1, 2026. For the first time, this standard explicitly stipulates that raw materials for recycled pulp must consist of sorted and recycled paper, cardboard, and paper products, and strictly prohibits the use of contaminated raw materials such as discarded household paper and medical paper, thereby ensuring the hygiene and safety of recycled pulp at the source.

China’s paper industry relies heavily on imported fiber raw materials and requires large quantities of recycled pulp annually. The newly revised national standard for “Recycled Pulp” will provide crucial technical support for customs import inspections and quality assessments, helping to further enhance the quality and hygiene standards of imported recycled pulp.

The standard primarily introduces optimizations and improvements in areas such as strengthening control over recycled pulp raw materials, standardizing production processes, adding requirements for microbial disinfection and testing, and enhancing testing efficiency and accuracy.

Regarding the standardization of recycled pulp production processes, the standard introduces new definitions, production workflows, and key control steps for dry-process and wet-process recycled pulp. It clarifies that both dry-process and wet-process recycled pulp must undergo multiple processing steps, including sorting, pulping, and screening. Waste paper fragments that have undergone only simple processing such as shearing and baling do not fall under the category of recycled pulp, effectively preventing the import of solid waste masquerading as recycled pulp. Regarding microbial disinfection, a sterilization step has been added to the production process, and limits have been established for total bacterial colony count, total fungal colony count, and specific microbial indicators to ensure effective disinfection and control. In terms of testing, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been added as a method for heavy metal detection, enhancing the practicality, testing efficiency, and accuracy of the results.