Speaking at the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) Magazines 2005 conference in London, Bellamy said the UK needed to do much more with its waste paper recycling.

"On balance, recycling still has a long way to go, but industries need to work together," he said.

One project currently the subject of a feasibility study by the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is the construction of a recycled paper mill in Ireland.

According to Bellamy, almost 40% of all waste paper collected in the UK is sent for recycling either in China or Indonesia.

He also warned that while the UK was exporting 500,000 tonnes of paper and card for recycling to China every year, the Asian giant still had very little awareness of good environmental practices.

The expansion of pulp and paper projects in China also threw up two important questions where is the pulp coming from to make the paper, and what will happen to the paper once it is produced?

Bellamy said that as a botanist he had seen many forests trashed, and warned that more than half the wood being imported into China was coming from countries known for illegal wood sourcing practices.

"If you are considering any joint ventures in China will you be undertaking green technology transfer or just messing up someone else's backyard?" he asked.

All countries need to be aware of where they are sourcing their wood from, Bellamy said, with forest destruction set to get worse.

Story by Andy Scott