September 2016 - Page 22 of 22

Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports August, Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2016 Sales Results

Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $8.9 billion for the month of August, the four weeks ended August 28, 2016, an increase of two percent from $8.7 billion during the similar period last year. For the 16-week fourth quarter, the Company reported net sales of $35.7 billion, an increase of two percent from $35.0 billion in the fourth quarter last year, which ended August 30, 2015. For the 52-week fiscal year ended August 28, 2016, the Company reported net sales of $116.1 billion, an increase of two percent from the $113.7 billion reported last year.

Ontario Partners with Kruger Products to Expand Trenton Facilities

Ontario is partnering with Kruger Products to support a multi-million dollar expansion at the company’s Trenton plant, creating 119 new jobs and retaining 184 positions. Kruger Products will receive a loan of up to $10 million through Ontario’s Jobs and Prosperity Fund. The loan will help the company expand its commercial division and boost its market share in the United States. Kruger Products will install state-of-the-art equipment and set up eight new production lines. The project has a total value of up to $52 million and is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. click Read More below for details

Stora Enso has completed the divestment of Kabel Mill

Stora Enso has completed the divestment announced on 1 June 2016 of its Kabel coated mechanical paper mill in Germany, to Kabel Premium Pulp & Paper GmbH, owned by a German based investor group. The total cash consideration for the divestment is approximately EUR 25 million, subject to final closing adjustments. Based on 2015 annual figures, the transaction decreases Stora Enso’s annual sales by approximately EUR 300 million and simultaneously decreases Stora Enso’s annual coated mechanical paper production capacity by around 485 000 tonnes. The Kabel Mill employs approximately 540 people and was part of Stora Enso’s Paper division.

Adapting PEFC Chain of Custody certification to future needs

With over 18,000 PEFC Chain of Custody certified companies worldwide, our Chain of Custody standard has a tremendous impact on internal management processes of numerous businesses along the timber value chain. This means we must ensure the standard is the best it can be: that it is easy to use and meets customer expectations, while also respecting the integrity of our requirements and our system. As a result, our Chain of Custody standard is one of the areas under review as we continue our standards revision process. The responsibility for this revision falls to Working Group 4, which got together for their latest meeting in July. click Read More below for additional information

Rottneros leads European project for bio-based packaging

Rottneros Packaging AB and Rottneros Bruk AB are participating in a new project, PULPACKTION, to develop completely bio-based packaging trays. PULPACKTION is a project funded by the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking within Horizon 2020, the EU program for research and innovation, and involves 12 partners within the Union. The total scope of the project is just under SEK 120 million and is financed to 74 percent by the EU. Rottneros, with its vast expertise in the manufacturing of special pulp and moulded fibre trays will get the biggest part of the budget, approximately 25 million, and will therefore also be the coordinator of the project. In addition to project coordination, Rottneros will lead work streams within the tray moulding and pulp development. The project will begin 1 October 2016, and runs for four years.

The UPS Foundation Advances Global Forestry Initiative

The UPS Foundation, which leads the global citizenship programs for UPS (NYSE: UPS), announced it will award more than $2.6 million in grants to nonprofit organizations focused on environmental sustainability initiatives. This includes a significant grant to twenty-five year partner, The Nature Conservancy, a global organization that works to preserve ecologically important land and water resources through conservation. Other grants will support programs that advance environmental research and education, carbon reduction and energy conservation – all vital to economic growth and community stability. The Nature Conservancy grant includes a partnership extension for UPS’s Global Forestry Initiative, a program designed to plant, protect and preserve trees in urban and rural areas and forests worldwide. The grant will enable The Nature Conservancy to continue reforestation efforts for at-risk or eroded ecosystems throughout the U.S., Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico and Tanzania. click Read More below for additional information