International Paper is continuing work on its commitment to sustain forests through two new collaborations with the Arbor Day Foundation: the Time for Trees initiative and Community Tree Recovery. As one of 17 founding members of the Arbor Day Foundation's Evergreen Alliance, International Paper is championing the Time for Trees initiative, a commitment to plant 100 million trees in forests and communities worldwide by 2022. The initiative leverages trees as a simple, natural climate solution, improves community resilience and helps preserve clean air and water, healthy food and a livable climate. International Paper has also committed to planting 46,000 trees through the Arbor Day Foundation's Community Tree Recovery program – a public and private partnership aimed at distributing free trees to residents in communities affected by natural disaster. International Paper's support of this program also promotes community resilience, a focus of their community engagement strategy. Click Read More bellow for additional information.

Mondi Group, a global leader in packaging and paper has today released its 2018 reporting suite Sustainable Packaging and Paper by Design, including its full Sustainable Development report and Integrated report and financial statements. The Sustainable Development report shows positive progress on climate change achieved through the introduction of biomass and recovery boilers in Mondi’s mills leading to 100% electricity self-sufficiency, with 64% of fuel from renewable sources. In total, there has been a 14.5% reduction in specific CO2e emissions against the 2014 commitment baseline, continuing the positive trend which shows a 38% reduction since 2004.

The Navigator Company and National Geographic have taken an important step towards protecting the environment by replacing the plastic bags used to encase their magazines with sustainable paper envelopes. Around 150,000 plastic bags were used per year but as of this month, this is set to change. For the first time in Portugal, the magazine will reach its subscribers in a more ecological and environmentally-friendly form, made from The Navigator Company paper.

Employees from DS Smith’s Kemsley Mill in Sittingbourne recently joined Swale Borough Council Park Rangers to clear litter and waste from parkland around the Kemsley site. The clean-up, which was initiated by the Kemsley Charity and Communities Committee on the 4th April, saw a total of 20 volunteers come together to clean the site as part of Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean, which runs from 22nd March to 23rd April.

On April 22nd, we celebrated Earth Day. This annual event started back in the 1970s and has made a positive impact on the environment. Earth Day has catapulted public awareness of the environment and action to commit to sustainability that has led to important legislation that can help the planet’s resources sustains for generations to come.

Global packaging leader Smurfit Kappa is investing in a series of upgrades to its flagship kraftliner mill in Piteå, Sweden. The project will focus on increasing the sustainability and efficiency of both its cooking plant and recovery boiler. Other developments planned for the mill include the installation of high-spec purification filters and an advanced combustion system. The work will be carried out during a planned 15-day closure of the mill next month.

Sustainability is the future, which is why Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, finds it a privilege to announce and celebrate that the Company’s enterprise division has now lent a decade of support to the Arbor Day Foundation’s reforestation program. Since 2009, the company’s enterprise division helped contribute to the planting of more than 500,000 trees in the U.S., with this year’s efforts counting toward the Arbor Day Foundation’s Time for Trees initiative, under which the Arbor Day Foundation seeks to plant 100 million trees worldwide by 2022.

We’re kicking off Earth Week 2019 on April 22, which is International Earth Day. While we incorporate sustainability into all parts of our business every day, we are excited to have a whole week dedicated to enhancing nature’s gifts and improving life in our communities. Colleagues and, at many sites, their family members and friends will raise sustainability awareness through volunteering, learning and playing in the world around us.

Sustainability is the new workplace standard: A global, 20,000-participant survey released by HP found that 61 percent of workers believe sustainability is mandatory for businesses. It also found that employees are more productive, motivated and engaged when working for an employer who is leading the charge in social responsibility.

Earth Day is April 22, 2019, and to celebrate, we are sharing some environmental highlights from our businesses. Air, land, and water are areas where the JDI team works every day to reduce our environmental footprint.

Beer doesn’t grow on trees, but one brewer wants you to appreciate them anyway. Just in time for Earth Day, Busch and the National Forest Foundation (NFF) have published a book about America’s trees. The hard-cover coffee table book, made of recycled paper, showcases about two dozen trees in an effort to raise money for conservation efforts and get people adventuring in the great outdoors. The book, “Rooted in Love,” goes on sale today for $20 and will be available through the end of April. All proceeds go directly to the NFF, which helps conserve approximately 200 million acres of forests.

As spring arrives in Geneva, forests are coming back to life and animals are enjoying the first warm days, we hear from Julian Rad, a runner up in our 2018 ‘Experience Forests, Experience PEFC’ photo contest. Julian tells us about his photo ‘Sniffling’ and why forests and wild animals are his favorite photo motives.

The SFI Annual Conference brings together thought leaders and influencers from the forest products industry, conservation and community partners, tribal and Indigenous leaders as well as some of the most engaged forest product customers in North America. This year’s conference will discuss topics of relevance to the American, Canadian and International forest sectors, so mark your calendars and come to the 2019 SFI Annual Conference and please bring a customer or a friend. Check back soon for conference updates.

The 22nd of April marks Earth Day – the world’s largest environmental movement. Earth Day is an annual event that takes place globally to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Commenced in 1970, the event’s mission is to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide. Here at Two Sides, we are celebrating the event by sharing some positive environmental facts from the world of print and paper and encourage you to join us too. We have plenty of informative resources and shareable content for you to download and share. Use the #EarthDay hashtag in your social media posts to help raise awareness to this global event. We have even got some Twitter friendly videos ready for you to share! Click Read More bellow for additional information.

For the first time, FSC certification is now an option for National Forests, after the final approval in March 2019 of the supplementary requirements to the FSC US Forest Management Standard. These requirements have been incorporated into an updated version of the Standard which is available on the FSC US web site. Should a National Forest choose to pursue FSC certification, the process would apply both the regular FSC Forest Management Standard and the newly approved supplementary requirements. These additional requirements recognize the unique role of National Forests in the United States, holding forest management on these lands to a higher level of expectations. Click Read More bellow for additional information.

“Biomass” isn't a word most people know. But this renewable, cost effective fuel is becoming increasingly important to our planet. It helps reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and curtail the demand for purchased electricity while lowering greenhouse gas emissions. What is biomass? It's fuel from organic materials. The woody biomass GP uses comes mainly from tree waste, such as bark, wood residues and by-products from pulping wood fiber. And it makes up more than 50 percent of the energy we use to run our plants and mills. As whole trees come into sites such as our Alabama River Cellulose (ARC) facility near Monroeville, Alabama, bark is removed from logs before they go into the chipper. The dissolved lignin (black liquor) is later removed leaving behind the cellulose fibers. The bark and the black liquor are then used as biomass fuel. Click Read More bellow for additional information.

Two Sides North America has released an engaging new infographic that illustrates why 118 North American companies and over 360 companies globally have removed ‘go green – go paperless’ and similar environmental claims. Greenwashing is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as, “to make people believe that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is.” The new infographic counters greenwashing claims and provides fact-based information to bust myths about misleading sustainability claims around paper use and production. More companies, including many of the Fortune 500, are thinking twice about their environmental marketing claims to promote electronic communications over paper. Click Read More bellow for additional information.

Walmart announced today that its suppliers have reported avoiding 3.46 million metric tons (CO2e) of greenhouse gas emissions in the Chinese value chain as part of Project Gigaton China. This is equivalent to the emissions associated with the average annual electricity consumption of over 3 million Chinese households and marks a strong year one result for Project Gigaton China, which Walmart launched one year ago with the aim of preventing 50 million metric tons of emissions in the Chinese value chain alone. It is part of Walmart's global Project Gigaton commitment to work with its suppliers to cut 1 billion metric tons (CO2e) – a gigaton – of greenhouse gas emissions from the global value chain of upstream suppliers and downstream consumers by 2030. Click Read More bellow for additional information.

Smurfit Kappa has joined forces with the Plastic Soup Foundation to stress the growing need for sustainable packaging. The Plastic Soup Foundation is a Dutch organisation which campaigns for an end to the pollution of the world’s oceans. The term ‘plastic soup’, which first became popular in the late 1990s, refers to the pollution of the oceans by plastic including large pieces and tiny micro-plastic and nano-plastic particles, both floating and sunken. A strong synergy exists between the Plastic Soup Foundation’s mission to stop the plastic soup at the source and Smurfit Kappa’s Better Planet Packaging initiative which aims to address the challenge of packaging waste and litter that ends up in oceans and landfill. Click Read More below for additional detail.

U.S. Representative Bruce Westerman (R-AR) holds a Master’s Degree in Forestry from Yale University and understands better than most that a healthy and sustainably managed forest is not a partisan issue. The use of forest products by society drives a healthy market as well as the incentive for forest owners to manage their forests sustainably. In other words, wood product use, paired with a commitment to recycling and sustainable forest management, including replanting many more trees than we use (standard practice in North America), will result in healthy, vibrant forests. Read the details of Representative Westerman’s story about sustainable forestry, economics, family forests, and forestry jobs in Arkansas and how by working together it makes for healthy forests. https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/434083-the-best-way-to-preserve-forests-use-trees?amp&__twitter_impression=true

Cascades Inc. announced that it is extending its transportation electrification program to all its employees in Ontario . In addition to its 4,400 Quebec -based employees, the Company will now offer its 2,200 employees in Ontario access to the program that encourages individuals to transition from gas to electric or hybrid vehicles. To support its employees to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, the company will also install 30 new 240-volt charging stations at its Ontario facilities, extending the network of the 80 that have already been installed in Québec. It will also provide a financial contribution of up to $2,000 for each employee who purchases an electric vehicle. This is in addition to any government grants that may be in effect. The announcement was made at the Company's Ottawa sorting centre, in anticipation of Earth Day, and in the presence of the environmental leader Dr. David Suzuki and students representing Ontario EcoSchools. Click Read More below for additional detail.

UPM’s new biodiversity target is one of the company’s responsibility targets for 2030. The aim is to preserve biodiversity alongside modern forestry. “We want to preserve and improve the biodiversity in UPM’s own forests in Finland. With this target and through our actions, we seek to open up new opportunities for different land use practises that promote the preservation of natural resources or habitats”, says Timo Lehesvirta, Sustainable Forestry Lead, Forest Global, UPM. UPM has carried out its biodiversity protection programme in the company’s forests for over 20 years. Thanks to the programme, the ratios of tree species have diversified and the amount of deadwood, which is valuable to many forest species, is increasing. Natural variation in forests has been improved through thickets for game, by protecting valuable habitats and buffer zones next to water, and by leaving retention trees and tree groups on harvesting sites. Some species are specialised to grow in conditions that differ from the surrounding forest environment. There are 45,000 protected habitats in UPM forests, and the programme protects all of them. Click Read More below for additional detail.

At its 2019 sustainability milestone summit, Walmart announced that for the first time, checkout carousels at its U.S. stores will include reusable bags that will be available to customers for purchase. The aim of this new campaign is to help reduce plastic waste and increase customer convenience by placing reusable bags in easy to find and highly frequented sections of its stores. As part of the launch, Walmart is rolling out a new assortment of reusable bags that are made with post-consumer recycled content. The new reusable bag initiative will begin rolling out to stores next month and follows a recent announcement by Walmart on a series of plastic waste reduction goals that seek to advance the sustainability of the retailer’s private brand packaging by making it 100 percent recyclable, reusable or industrially compostable by 2025. This year’s milestone summit also featured announcements and updates on several other sustainability initiatives. For example, the event marks the two-year anniversary of Project Gigaton, a platform in which Walmart is working with suppliers to avoid 1 billion metric tons, a gigaton, of emissions from global value chains by 2030. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Kohl’s announced that it has received the 2019 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award for continued leadership and superior contributions to ENERGY STAR. Kohl’s accomplishments will be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on April 11, 2019. “Kohl’s is proud to receive the 2019 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award,” said Steve Thomas, Kohl’s chief risk and compliance officer. “Our work with ENERGY STAR is just one of the ways we are championing sustainability efforts that reinforce the healthy lifestyle we hope to inspire in our customers. In partnership with ENERGY STAR, Kohl’s continues to evaluate our energy footprint across the country to increase operational efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint." Click Read More below for additional detail.

With Earth Day just around the corner, Cascades invites media representatives to its material recovery facility in Ottawa for a discussion about recovery, recycling, circular economy and environment in the presence of Mario Plourde , President and Chief Executive Officer at Cascades, Dr. David Suzuki , reknown environmentalist, and a group of students involved in the Ontario EcoSchools network. This discussion will be moderated by columnist and animator Frédéric Choinière, well versed in environmental issues. Mario Plourde will also take this opportunity to make a special announcement about a new sustainability initiative that the company will deploy in Ontario. The event will conclude with a tour of the sorting facility to demonstrate the circular path followed by paper and paperboard products after collection in the recovery bin.

Today, Amazon.com announced three new renewable energy projects as part of its long-term goal to power all Amazon Web Services (AWS) global infrastructure with renewable energy. These projects – one in Ireland, one in Sweden, and one in the United States – will deliver wind-generated energy that will total over 229 megawatts (MW) of power, with expected generation of over 670,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable energy annually. The new projects are part of AWS’s long-term commitment to achieve 100 percent renewable energy for its global infrastructure. In 2018, AWS exceeded 50 percent renewable energy for its global infrastructure. For more information, go to https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainability/. Once complete, these projects, combined with AWS’s previous nine renewable energy projects, are expected to generate more than 2,700,000 MWh of renewable energy annually – equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of over 262,000 US homes, which is approximately the size of the city of Nashville, Tennessee. Click Read More below for additional detail.

BillerudKorsnäs’ annual and sustainability report for 2018 is now available in pdf at www.billerudkorsnas.com/investors and is attached to this press release. A digital short version of the report, which is also designed for smartphone and tablet, can be found at https://billerudkorsnas.com/investors/highlights-2018. The printed version of the annual and sustainability report will soon be distributed to shareholders and other stakeholders who have requested to receive it. The printed version of the report can also be ordered via ir@billerudkorsnas.com.

We couldn’t have paper and building products without forests. We rely on forests as a company and even more as a community. GP recognizes that forests are beneficial for more than just products that provide financial gain. They also give us clean air, clean water and a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives. Responsible and sustainable forest management must be a top priority for companies like us. At GP, we believe there are some forests that should be protected because of their unique or rare qualities. We have a forest mapping program to identify and protect these endangered forest (EF) areas. It starts with a GIS (geographic information system) process designed for GP by the University of Georgia in its Natural Resources Spacial Analysis Lab. Data sets for the forests in our wood procurement basins are gathered and matched against a set of 12 predetermined criteria that are characteristic of endangered forest areas. These data sets are scored, and the scores determine which forests are considered endangered. Click Read More below for additional detail.

American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Donna Harman issued the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision to approve the Human Health Water Quality Criteria for the state of Idaho. EPA Regional Administrator Chris Hladick approved the criteria on April 4. “We applaud EPA’s decision to approve Idaho’s water quality criteria – action that underscores recognition of and respect for Idaho’s consistent application of stringent and conservative criteria to protect all its waters. States with scientifically-based records of environmental stewardship should serve as an example for others and not be subject to federal decisions that ignore the facts on the ground and the primary role for states in implementing the Clean Water Act.”

In celebration of National Wildlife Week, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is announcing it has received a significant and generous donation. J.D. Irving, Limited has donated $1 million to NCC’s national Landmark Campaign. The gift will allow NCC to conserve more habitat for wildlife, complete conservation science and research projects, as well as fund student internships and volunteer programs. “On behalf of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, I would like to express our gratitude to J.D. Irving, Limited for this outstanding contribution,” said John Lounds, President and CEO of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. “I would also like to thank Jim Irving for his leadership for 17 years on NCC’s national fundraising campaigns, past and present. This donation will help NCC protect more habitat and at-risk species, connect more Canadians to nature, and inspire the next generation of conservation leaders.” Click Read More below for additional detail.

The European Parliament has approved a ban on disposable plastic products, bringing the ban one step closer to reality. The ban would affect a wide range of products that have alternatives, such as straws and cutlery. The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in support of a wide-ranging ban on single-use plastics to counter pollution from the discarded items in waterways and fields. The Parliament backed the ban 560-35. EU member states have given their support but need to vote on the measure for it to go into effect. The ban would be implemented from 2021 and would affect a range of plastic products that have reasonable alternatives, such as plastic cutlery, foam takeout food containers, straws and drink stirrers. Click Read More below for additional detail.

By giving economic value to forests, we can enhance our sustainability efforts as well as our business. That was Domtar CEO John D. Williams’ message at a New York University Stern School of Business event in March. NYU’s Center for Sustainable Business hosted leading academics, investors, corporate sustainability executives and nonprofit leaders to discuss how companies assess sustainability ROI (return on investment). “If we don’t have sustainable forests, we have no business,” Williams says. Domtar recognized this years ago, and we were early adopters of sustainability standards and third-party certification. At the event, Emily Chasan, sustainable finance editor at Bloomberg News, asked Williams several questions about how companies can identify, track and monetize sustainability returns driven by innovation, operational efficiency, employee engagement, brand enhancement and risk mitigation, and how those efforts can lead to better decision-making by the C-suite and investors. Click Read More below for additional detail.

For years, through the voice of actor Sam Elliott, Smokey Bear only said five words: “Only you can prevent wildfires,” but the iconic spokes-bear is receiving help from celebrities to expand his fire safety and wildfire prevention message. An new PSA campaign, developed with the U.S. Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters, the Ad Council, and Interpublic’s FCB, is introducing ads that incorporate the voices of celebrities Stephen Colbert, Al Roker and Jeff Foxworthy with the CGI-animated Smokey to further address fire dangers like burning yard debris. Foxworthy, to that end, riffs on his famous "you might be a redneck" joke, Roker mentions his well-known catchphrase "your neck of the woods," while Colbert plays off his last name—“Col-Bear.” Click Read More below for additional detail.

Did you know that a set of stickers attached to a magazine can cause trouble in the recycling process of the paper? UPM businesses joined forces in developing a new adhesive that allows paper labels to become high-quality paper again after being recycled. Sticker attachments have recently seen a rise in popularity. However, the glues used in stickers have caused problems in the paper recycling process. The problem is not a new one but has become more notable as the quantity of sticker material attached to printed products has increased. Enhancing recyclability was a key target when UPM Raflatac, UPM Communication Papers and UPM’s Central European Research Centre joined forces. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Environment Minister Margaret Miller released her decision today, March 29, on the environmental assessment of Northern Pulp’s proposed effluent treatment plant. The minister’s decision is to require the company to submit a focus report that provides more information. “We make our decisions based on science and evidence” said Ms. Miller. “In this case, I require more information to determine the impacts on the environment.” Through the environmental assessment process, the department received comments from government reviewers and more than 900 submissions from the public. The decision and the comments are available at https://novascotia.ca/nse/ea/Replacement_Effluent_Treatment_Facility_Project/. By April 24, the department will give Northern Pulp terms of reference for the focus report and post them on the department website. The company has up to one year from that date to submit the report. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Holmen has taken a new step in its sustainable strategy work. Holmen’s largest forest holdings are located in northern Sweden, while much of its industrial production takes place in the south. To secure its wood supply and add value to its own forest, Holmen is now going to be transporting its wood south on trains from Green Cargo. “With the planned capacity increase at Braviken Sawmill, we’re keen to establish a reliable and constant supply of wood for our own mills while at the same time increase the value of our forest. We’re pleased to be able to use trains to transport wood from our forests in the north to our mills in the south in an environmentally and economically sustainable way,” says Sören Petersson, Senior Vice President Forest. Click Read More below for additional detail.

India has become the latest country to achieve the PEFC endorsement of its national forest certification system. “PEFC endorsement is a landmark achievement for India, as we have long felt the need for such a country specific and internationally benchmarked forest certification system,” said Vijai Sharma, Chairman of The Network for Certification and Conservation of Forests (NCCF), our national member for India. “Our newly endorsed national system will allow Indian forest managers to further strengthen their sustainable forest management practices, in line with global standards and multilateral requirements.” NCCF joined the PEFC alliance in 2015 and submitted the national system to PEFC for endorsement in 2017. The system was developed through a multi-stakeholder group including forestry professionals, representatives from government, forest corporations, conservation organisations and industry bodies. Click Read More below for additional detail.