OCC stands for Old Corrugated Containers - the most widely traded grade of recyclable paper globally.
DSOCC is Double-Sorted Old Corrugated Containers, a premium-quality OCC graded under ISRI specification #12 with stricter contamination tolerances.
EN 643 is the European standard that classifies both under codes 1.05.00 through 1.05.01.
All three refer to the same family of material - and the reason they have different names is the reason the global paper recycling trade has always been hard to navigate.
This post explains exactly what each standard means, how they relate, and how the world's first Circular Industry Cloud uses Kiwi AI to bridge all three so buyers and sellers globally can trade on the same grade vocabulary.
WHAT IS OCC - OLD CORRUGATED CONTAINERS?
OCC is the paper industry term for used corrugated cardboard boxes - the brown, fluted cardboard used in shipping and packaging. It is generated at supermarkets, warehouses, distribution centres, manufacturing facilities, and retail locations globally.
OCC is graded by quality:
OCC 95/5 - ISRI Standard #11
The most common OCC grade. At least 95% corrugated board with up to 5% allowable outthrows and prohibitives. Also known in the EN 643 European standard as Ordinary Corrugated Board (OCC 90/10) (1.05.00).
DSOCC - Double-Sorted Old Corrugated Containers - ISRI Standard #12
A premium-quality OCC grade. Specially sorted to be free of boxboard, offshore corrugated, plastic, and wax. Prohibitive materials may not exceed 0.5-1%. Outthrows plus prohibitives combined may not exceed 2%. Also called DS OCC, DSOCC #12, or referred to in the EN 643 standard as Corrugated Board (OCC 95/05) (1.05.01). Commands a price premium over standard OCC because it is cleaner, more consistent, and produces a higher-quality furnish for paper mills.
WHAT IS EN 643?
EN 643 is the European standard for recovered paper and board - the grading system used by European paper mills, traders, and buyers to classify recyclable paper by quality and composition.
The EN 643 codes relevant to OCC are:
1.04.00 - Corrugated Paper and Board Packaging - a broad category covering packaging grades
1.05.00 - Ordinary Corrugated Board (OCC 90/10) - equivalent to ISRI OCC 95/5
1.05.01 - Corrugated Board (OCC 95/05) - equivalent to ISRI DSOCC #12
A buyer in Rotterdam posting an EN 643 1.05.01 RFQ and a seller in New York listing DSOCC #12 are looking for the same material. Without a shared grade vocabulary they may never find each other - or they spend three emails establishing equivalence before the trade can begin.
WHAT IS ISRI?
ISRI is the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries - the North American trade association that publishes standardised specifications for recovered materials. The ISRI Paper Stock Industries Specifications are the reference standard for paper grades in North America.
ISRI Paper Grade #11 = OCC 95/5
ISRI Paper Grade #12 = DSOCC - Double-Sorted Old Corrugated Containers
These specifications define the contamination tolerances, prohibitive materials, and quality parameters that buyers and sellers in North America reference when trading recovered paper.
WHY THE SAME MATERIAL HAS THREE NAMES
The global paper recycling trade developed regional grade vocabularies before global trade became common. North American traders learned ISRI. European buyers learned EN 643. Asian mills developed their own classification habits. The result: a generator in Ontario and a buyer in Mumbai may both be talking about the same grade - clean, double-sorted corrugated - but using completely different words for it.
This is Grade Complexity. It is the first problem the Circular Industry Cloud was built to solve.
HOW KIWI AI BRIDGES OCC, DSOCC, AND EN 643 ON INACSYS
Kiwi AI is the grade intelligence layer built into inacsys.com - the world's first Circular Industry Cloud. When a user searches "OCC" on Inacsys, Kiwi does not return keyword results. It returns the full grade taxonomy:
Kiwi Grade Taxonomy for OCC:
Paper - Corrugated and Kraft Packaging - Corrugated Board (OCC 95/05) (1.05.01)
Raw material: Unbleached Chemical Kraft / Sulphate Pulp
Formats: Bales
Also known as: OCC, OCC 95/5, 1.05.01, DSOCC, Corrugated Cardboard, Cardboard
Kiwi Market Context surfaces all the synonym terms buyers and sellers use globally for this grade. A buyer searching EN 643 1.05.01 and a seller listing DSOCC #12 are now in the same search result.
When a seller creates a listing for DSOCC on Inacsys, Kiwi generates the full ISRI #12 specification automatically:
"Double-sorted corrugated containers, generated from supermarkets and/or industrial/commercial facilities, specially sorted to be free of boxboard, offshore corrugated, plastic, and wax. ISRI #12. Prohibitive Materials may not exceed 0.5-1%; Outthrows plus prohibitives combined may not exceed 2%."
The seller did not write this. Kiwi generated it from the Inacsys knowledge base. The listing is now grade-accurate in the terms paper mills globally recognise and trade on.
HOW TO LIST OCC OR DSOCC ON THE CIRCULAR INDUSTRY CLOUD
Register free at inacsys.com. Go to Inventory - Create Listing. Type OCC or DSOCC in the Kiwi search field. Select your grade variant. Kiwi generates the full ISRI specification. Add your quantity, location, and price. Publish. Your listing is visible to paper mill buyers globally from the moment it goes live.
This is how to sell OCC globally using the world's first Circular Industry Cloud.
The Starter plan is free. Start at inacsys.com.
#CircularIndustryCloud #Inacsys #KiwiAI #OCC #DSOCC #EN643 #ISRI #RecyclableMaterials #CircularEconomy #GradeSpecification #GlobalTrade #RecoveredFibre #KraftLiner #B2BTrade