The ERPC was set up as an industry self-initiative in November 2000 to monitor the progress towards meeting the paper recycling targets set out in the 2000 European Declaration on Paper Recycling. In 2011, the ERPC committed itself to meeting and maintaining both the voluntary recycling target of 70% in the EU-27 plus Switzerland and Norway by 2015 as well as qualitative targets in areas such as waste prevention, ecodesign, and research and development.
“The ERPC has been very successful in carrying out qualitative actions on paper recovery, to improve the quality of paper for recycling in Europe. The challenge is to maintain the current high collection and recycling volumes in Europe, despite changing paper consumption patterns”, said Mr Vermeulen.
Mr Vermeulen is 49 years of age and holds a master’s degree in Law from Maastricht University. Since 1997, he is responsible in Europe for all recovered paper activities, first at Kappa Packaging and since 2005 for the merged Smurfit Kappa group. In this function he is involved in many different entities throughout Europe, from operating paper for recycling companies to industrial associations like CEPI, where he chaired the Recycling & Product committee for several years. He is married with two children and has the Dutch Nationality.