Chuetsu Pulp & Paper Co. and Tokushu Tokai Holdings Co. admitted Jan. 21 to falsifying the ratios of used paper contained in a wide range of paper products sold as recycled paper.

Chuetsu Pulp said its in-house investigation has found that 99 percent of its recycled paper products contain less old paper than it has claimed.

Seven of Japan's major papermakers, including industry leader Oji Paper Co., and midsize papermaker Kishu Paper Co. have admitted to the practice of using lower amounts of waste paper in their recycled products than they claimed. The string of confessions was triggered by Nippon Paper Group Inc., the country's second-largest papermaker, which admitted falsifying its ratios Jan. 16.