As a result, companies such as the Kouvola-based home insulation manufacturer Ekovilla are having to ship more paper in.
"Last year we had to import about half of our paper raw material," says CEO Mika Ervasti.
Some manufacturers that have traditionally relied on recycled paper have been replacing it with new primary fibre. Demand for such virgin material is growing by more than five million tonnes annually.
Annually Finns recycle some 700,000 tonnes of paper, which is equivalent to that produced by one large paper machine. Finland has one of the world's best paper return rates, with two-thirds of all paper and paperboard recycled in 2010.
Sort of a problem
However sorting of various types of paper is inefficient, which limits its usability as a raw material by Finnish industries. Therefore, paradoxically, much of it is exported -- while better-sorted waste paper is imported.
"If we used mixed paper, the quality of our product would suffer. It would have weaker installation and insulation properties," explains Ervasti.
Meanwhile China is buying up huge amounts of used paper. As demand for scrap paper rises, so naturally does its price.
Ekovilla imports its waste paper from the other Nordic countries and Russia.