The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) is pleased to announce that a PHD graduate from McGill University, Goeun Sim, has been chosen as the Canadian finalist for the global Blue Sky Young Researchers Innovation Award, based on her exciting and environmentally leading proposal to advance innovation in the forest products sector. Dr. Sim’s research proposal is based on the novel development of smart multi-coloured wood based fabrics that are free of toxic chemicals using coloured nanoparticles as a dye. The resulting environmentally sustainable textile production would eliminate pollutants and the non-toxic cellulose yarns would be a value-added product for the forest industry. click Read More below for additional detail

Mondi has been recognised as a Sector Category winner in three areas of it’s work: - In the category “Transparency” Mondi was recognised for publishing the forest, climate and water footprint of 92% of our uncoated fine paper brands. - In the category “Best Environmental Performance Paper Brands”, 32 of our uncoated fine paper brands received this award, reaching over 80% of achievable scores. - In the category “Striving for Continual Improvement” our packaging paper brands were recognised for using a proactive approach in assessing the forest, water and climate footprint for internal purposes, using WWF´s Check your Paper Method. click Read More below for additional detail

Sustainability was the second most prioritized section in this year’s Webranking and one in which SCA got the highest score in Sweden, receiving 87% of the maximum score (compared with last year’s 78%). In particular, respondents considered SCA to be most transparent about their sustainability work in their online channels highlighting the presentation of both environmental and social data, as well as clearly communicated targets and follow-up actions.That SCA now has a digital sustainability report, further increased our score. Results also showed that many companies still lag when it comes to sharing their sustainability information on the web. This year the goal achievement was 32%. click Read More below for additional detail

The American Tree Farm System (ATFS) has become the latest national forest certification system to seek PEFC endorsement, and stakeholders globally are invited to provide feedback on its compliance with our Sustainability Benchmarks by 7 January 2017. ATFS is one of the oldest initiatives for certifying sustainable forestry in the world. It was first launched in 1941 as a private initiative to address concerns that America's forests were being cut at unsustainable rates without reforestation. It now represents 74,000 tree farmers sustainably managing more than 7.7 million hectares of PEFC-certified forestland. ATFS first achieved PEFC endorsement back in 2005, and this latest revision of the standard will mark the fourth time the national standard has been submitted to PEFC. click Read More below for additional detail

At the annual meeting of Two Sides Country Managers in London on the 31st October 2016, representatives from Europe, North America, South America, South Africa and Australia determined to renew efforts to stop organisations using anti-print and paper messages in their marketing. Claims like, ‘go paperless, go green’ and ‘go paperless, save trees’, are commonplace as major corporations promote electronic services and products to reduce costs. However, such claims are not backed up by any analysis, they ignore the unique sustainable features of print and paper, and they do not consider the fact that all communication channels have an environmental impact. click Read More below for additional detail

UPM has received the PPI Bio Strategy Award 2016 for its biofuels business in Brussels, Belgium.The PPI Awards are the only global awards that are dedicated to recognizing the achievements of companies, mills and individuals in the pulp and paper sector. The judges were looking for a company that has grabbed the opportunity in using wood, biomass or waste for the creation of bioenergy, biofuels and other non-core products signifying an entrance into the bioeconomy, and has demonstrated that the strategy impacts financial performance. A great example case of this is of course UPM's advanced biofuels production in the UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery in Finland. click Read More below for more of the story

This November 19, on World Toilet Day, Kimberly-Clark renews its commitment to its Toilets Change Lives program, a multi-national commercial program that leverages the power of its well-known brands to educate consumers and help solve the global sanitation crisis. The United Nations General Assembly officially designated World Toilet Day in 2013 to raise awareness and inspire efforts to tackle the global sanitation crisis. A lack of basic sanitation affects more than 2.4 billion people around the world, making 'access to water and sanitation for all' an important platform for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. The reality of what this means for so many people is profound. Countless children miss school because of the spread of life-threatening diseases and infection from a lack of basic sanitation. And millions of girls miss school every month because menstruation becomes too hard to manage without access to proper facilities. click Read More below for additional detail

Stora Enso and Volvo Cars officially opened a new hot water pipeline between their manufacturing sites in Ghent, Belgium, on 18 November 2016. The four-kilometre pipeline will take hot water heated using renewable energy from Stora Enso’s paper mill to the Volvo plant, where it will be used to heat buildings and paint booths. The annual reductions in CO2emissions correspond to the heating of 5 000 households. Bart Tommelein, Minister of Energy of the Flemish Government, ceremoniously opened the valves of the pipeline together with the managing directors of Volvo Car Gent and Stora Enso’s Langerbrugge Mill, Eric Van Landeghem and Chris De Hollander. Thanks to the pipeline, Volvo Cars will use substantially lower amounts of fossil fuels for heating – also reducing the plant’s CO2emissions and energy costs. The project will lead to emission reductions estimated at 15 000 tonnes of CO2per year, cutting the Ghent plant’s total CO2emissions by more than 40 per cent. click Read More below for more of the story

This year saw our members smash through past records for new PEFC-certified hectares! In Australia alone, more than 16 million hectares of forest became PEFC-certified – an achievement that won Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) the top prize for growth during our PEFC Forest Certification Week award ceremony. Second and third place did not do badly either, with Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and PEFC Russia adding 8.2 million and 8.1 million hectares of certified forest, respectively – an amount that in previous years would have easily given them first place! click Read More below for additional detail

“We must embrace curiosity and rejoice in the alchemy of innovation to come up with new ideas, products, and solutions to develop different ways to promote our vision of a world in which people manage forests sustainably,” said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International, as he opened the 21st PEFC General Assembly. “As the needs and expectations of the world change, it is vital that we keep up, or better still stay ahead, always thinking how best we can serve our customers, from forest owners, to companies along the supply chain, both now and in the future, in safeguarding the world's forest resources.” “To do this, we need to ensure that we empower our members, that we ensure they can reach their full potential,” Ben continued. click Read More below for more of the story

A new survey finds older generations are more likely to believe that recycling can help the planet and to go out of their way to recycle. The survey[1] commissioned by Plastics Make It Possible® also finds that older adults are more likely to make a daily habit of recycling. For example, people 60 years and older are 15 percent more likely to recycle daily than millennials. Similarly, 44 percent of people 60 and older say they would walk a long way to recycle rather than trash a plastic bottle—more than any other age group. Compared to older Americans, millennials typically are less likely to know that common plastics, such as shampoo bottles, yogurt containers, and milk jugs, are recyclable. And the widely held belief that recycling can do some good and help the planet is softer among millennials. click Read More below for additional detail

Metsä Board has been recognised by CDP as a global leader for its actions and strategies to manage water more sustainably. This is the second consecutive year that Metsä Board has been positioned on the CDP Water A List, where only 4% of the companies disclosing were accepted. The CDP Water A List was announced last year for the first time. Metsä Board was honoured to be one of the eight companies on the 2015 list. This year 607 companies disclosed their water management to CDP, and Metsä Board is one of only 24 global companies to make the 2016 Water A List. “We’re delighted to have again earned a spot on the CDP Water A List among the world’s best performing companies on water security,” says Mika Joukio, CEO of Metsä Board. “Metsä Board’s mills are located in one of the most water rich areas in the world. However, we still use our water resources efficiently and seek continuously new ways to reduce its use. Responsible water management is a vital part in our resource efficiency programme as reduced water use improves our energy and production efficiency.” click Read More below for more of the story

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) recognized Dart Container Corporation with the 2016 AF&PA Leadership in Sustainability Award for Paper Recovery for Recycling for Dart’s Employee Recycling Center. The award was presented at AF&PA’s annual meeting on Friday, Nov. 11 in Cary, North Carolina. “Dart Container is leading by example with their Employee Recycling Center, which has made paper recovery for recycling easier and more accessible for their employees and their families,” said AF&PA President and CEO Donna Harman. Dart Container opened a drive-through recycling facility at its Mason, Michigan headquarters where employees have access to free, convenient paper recycling. Regular curbside residential recycling services in the area are uncommon, and often require payment. In its first three months, the facility recycled nearly 93,000 pounds of paper products. click Read More below for more of the story

The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Purdue University have diverted almost six tons of waste from landfills through an innovative recycling program that turns used lab gloves and garments into shelving, flowerpots and lawn and garden furniture. Both institutions were looking for ways to reduce their solid waste streams and enhance their sustainability efforts. They found it in a program called RightCycle by Kimberly-Clark Professional, the first large-scale recycling program for non-hazardous lab and industrial waste. Since its inception in 2011, RightCycle has diverted more than 350 metric tons of waste from landfills. click Read More below for additional detail

Today marks the first day of PEFC Forest Certification Week 2016, the one week in the year when the whole PEFC family from around the world gathers together to discuss not only the future of the organization but the future of forest certification. “This year we came to the vibrant island of Bali, which has already made us feel very welcome,” said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International, on eve of PEFC Week. “We are all looking forward to a challenging but inspirational week, which will culminate in the PEFC Stakeholder Dialogue.” Perhaps the highlight of the week, the PEFC Stakeholder Dialogue is when we open up PEFC Week to the public, focusing in on some of the key issues and future opportunities for both forest certification and sustainable forest management. click Read More below for additional detail

Crown Holdings, Inc. has achieved an "A-" ranking (on a scale from A-F) for the climate change strategy outlined in its first annual CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) submission. This program cycle's evaluation included a total of 2,449 companies globally, with the average program ranking being a "C." Crown's submission reflects data collected from the Company's operations across 40 countries for the period of January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015. Crown's ranking places the Company in the "Leadership" tier, the highest level that can be attained. This achievement is based on the Company's excellent performance in the following categories: Governance and Strategy, Risk and Opportunity Management and Emissions Management.

, a nutrient recycling programme from the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, has granted funding for a joint project established by UPM together with the fertiliser and crop nutrition expert Yara Suomi Oy to develop nutrient recycling. Funding has been granted for the years 2017-2018. "The project by UPM and Yara Suomi is a concrete initiative to develop and test fertilisers with clear-cut targets", says Senior Officer Anni Karhunen from the Ministry of the Environment. "I am particularly happy that, for the first time, someone is really looking into the possibilities of reusing nutrients in the side streams of the forest industry. The projects that were chosen for the Raki funding once again include many different companies, so I am confident it will also lead to new business development", she continues. "The joint project by UPM and Yara concentrates on the possibilities for the agricultural reuse of nutrients retrieved from the sludge originating from the pulp and paper mill's effluent treatment plants and the ash from the incineration process", says Esa Laurinsilta, Director of Strategic Partnerships at UPM. click Read More below for additional detail

Climate change means that trees germinating today will be living in a much-altered climate by the time they reach middle age. The expected changes are likely to hit them hard and threaten key forest functions in the decades ahead. However, appropriate management shall enable to increase the forest habitat's adaptability. This is shown by the results of the Forests and Climate Change research programme conducted by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment FOEN and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL since 2009.

A steady increase in sea levels is pushing saltwater into U.S. wetlands, killing trees from Florida to as far north as New Jersey. But with sea level projected to rise by as much as six feet this century, the destruction of coastal forests is expected to become a worsening problem worldwide.

Amcor continues to make important progress in developing and delivering packaging that maximizes its benefits and limits adverse effects on the environment – and is determined to be a leader in accomplishing much more. That is the primary message in Amcor’s 2016 Sustainability Review, which covers developments and achievements during the company’s most recent fiscal year and is now available online, at www.amcor.com/sustainability.

Accreditation Services International (ASI) has suspended the certification body Holzforschung Austria from issuing FSC chain of custody (CoC) certificates worldwide. The measure came into effect on 21 October 2016. The suspension will be in place for a maximum of six months and it restricts Holzforschung Austria’s ability to issue new FSC CoC certificates or perform initial certification services globally. However, existing certificates issued by Holzforschung Austria will remain valid and the company can continue to conduct surveillance and re-certification audits for its clients during the period of suspension.