Visitors to Warriors’ Path State Park in Tennesse will enjoy a smoother hike this fall, thanks to the efforts of Domtar’s EarthChoice® Ambassadors (ECAs). These volunteers are committed to transforming communities where they live, work and play. In October, ECAs from our Kingsport Mill and our Ridgefields converting facility worked with the Student Conservation Association (SCA) to clear trash, install steps and restore trails in the park. As part of this joint effort, our colleagues removed 35 decaying steps and replaced them with new ones, and they picked up more than 135 pounds of trash. By the end of the day, they had restored a section of pedestrian trail for public use.

Two years ago, UPM Timber and UPM Plywood’s Finnish mills became the first UPM businesses to achieve its Zero Solid Waste project’s recycling targets. Having achieved this first goal, UPM Timber and UPM Plywood — along with the rest of the company — have set their sights on achieving the Zero Solid Waste to Landfill goal by 2030. This means not depositing any waste in landfill sites or incinerating waste without energy recovery within the next 11 years. To meet this ambitious goal, they will harness innovative new technologies, improve waste collection and reuse to create a true circular economy. Overall, UPM is currently about halfway towards achieving its zero waste to landfill goal, while UPM Timber has already reached this ambitious goal. With that said, UPM Timber continues to work on more innovative ways to meet the criteria, so that it remains a zero waste operation well into the future. Lampola explains that it can be a challenge to find a “commercially sensible and direct destinations for collected raw materials,” especially after accounting for prices and use cases.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute has issued a report helping UPM to predict the future physical impacts of climate change on its business. While acknowledging the risks, the report confirms that there are also opportunities as the world shifts to a low-carbon economy. From the nature point of view, the impacts, such as heavy rainfall, storms and drought will be the biggest extremes all across the world. We need science to help us prepare for this.

DS Smith, the leading provider of sustainable packaging, has today announced its membership of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) International, which promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests. Since the acquisition and integration of Interstate Resources and more recent acquisition of Europac, DS Smith now owns over 14,000 hectares of forest assets across North America, Portugal and Spain. FSC is the world’s most trusted sustainable forest certification system. More than 200 million hectares of forest worldwide are FSC-certified, and DS Smith joins the certification system as part of its forestry stewardship policy and overarching sustainable approach to management.

Highlights from this year’s report include: •Named as one of Forbes’ JUST 100, Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable Companies, and Mediacorp Canada’s Greenest Employers lists. •Committed to a 25 percent reduction in global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. •Achieved 100 percent ENERGY STAR eco-labels for all Xerox’s new eligible product introductions. •Diverted nearly 100 percent of leased Xerox equipment from landfills and optimized end-of-life processing. •Planted more than 100,000 trees

Metsä Fibre, Metsä Group’s pulp and sawn timber industry, has been awarded for the company’s sustainability work by the EFQM Global Excellence Award. The company won the Outstanding Achievement for Sustainability Award and reached the EFQM rating Recognised for Excellence 6 Stars. EFQM organisation gave the Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability Award to Metsä Fibre for the excellent work the company has done in promoting and continuously developing sustainability. Metsä Fibre received special thanks for the ways it takes sustainability into account in its investments and action plans, and for the way sustainability is reflected in the corporate culture at all levels of the organisation. ”We are delighted and proud for this recognition,” says Ismo Nousiainen, CEO of Metsä Fibre. “At Metsä Fibre, our key principle is continuous improvement, and sustainability and responsibility are an integral part of everything we do.

Sappi North America, Inc., a leading producer and supplier of diversified paper, packaging products and dissolving wood pulp, today announced a partnership with the nonprofit organizations American Forest Foundation (AFF) and GreenBlue to support the Forests in Focus sustainability risk assessment. The goal of Forests in Focus is to provide customers, brand owners and investors with user-friendly analyses of the sustainability strengths and risk profile of forested lands across specified landscapes. Utilizing credible, scientific-based information gathered by third parties, the platform is designed to complement existing forest certification programs and provide an account of sustainability for U.S. woodbaskets, in the context of global supply systems. As an early adopter and investor in the program, Sappi will leverage the new technology to support and validate its sustainability claims and to monitor risks and further strengthen its supply chain.

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI) launched the process to revise and update the SFI standard requirements at the SFI Annual Conference today. A conference workshop marked the official start of the revision process with over 200 members of the SFI community taking part. “The SFI Standards are developed through an open and inclusive process involving the many different people and groups who know and care about our forests including forest sector representatives, conservation groups, academics, researchers, brand owners, resource professionals, landowners, educators, local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and governments,” said Kathy Abusow, President and CEO of SFI Inc. The process includes 10 public standards development workshops across the U.S. and Canada including a dedicated workshop for Indigenous Peoples and a facilitated webinar workshop to accommodate those stakeholders that cannot make any of the regional workshops.

Vancouver-based environmental group, Canopy, has launched a global campaign against paper packaging, claiming that three billion trees “disappear into packaging’’ every year leaving “a trail of deforestation, degraded forest systems, threatened species, and an increasingly volatile climate.” Strong words. But are they true? Not as far as Canada is concerned (and probably the US too). For a Vancouver-based group, Canopy is alarmingly ignorant of the packaging facts in Canada. Here’s one. Most of the paper packaging material made by Canadian mills is 100% recycled content! It’s not made (as Canopy claims) with the “habitat of endangered species such as orangutans or caribou.” There’s a lesson here for brand owners everywhere. We commend you for committing to environmental causes. But please, please do not allow yourselves to be publicly embarrassed by lending your names and credibility to the false and misleading claims such as Canopy makes above. Facts do matter.

Las Últimas Noticias (LUN), Chile’s highest-circulation newspaper, is the first newspaper in South America to achieve PEFC Chain of Custody certification. With a daily circulation of 100,000 copies and 64 pages per copy, LUN uses nearly 14 tons of paper per day. “Our commitment is to use certified paper that comes from sustainably managed forests, and at the same time to comply with PEFC’s social and environmental requirements,” said Oscar Vallejos, Operations Manager at LUN. While other newspapers and printers in Chile use PEFC-certified paper, LUN is the first to achieve PEFC Chain of Custody certification.

Project Learning Tree (PLT), the award-winning environmental education initiative of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), has developed new supplementary education materials to help youth discover careers in sustainable forestry and conservation. Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers includes four hands-on instructional activities to help youth research different forest-sector jobs, and practice managing and monitoring forest resources. Anyone can use this resource with learners aged 12–25 in settings ranging from community youth programs and school classrooms, to college and career prep, to field trips and forest tours. PLT’s Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers unit is available through a PLT in-person professional development workshop offered by our network of state coordinators or can be purchased from Shop.plt.org. An online course is also being developed.

DS Smith Recycling, one of Europe’s largest paper and card recyclers, managing more than 5.5 million tonnes for recycling annually, signs new five-year contract with Co-op, the UK’s sixth biggest food retailer. he Co-op is one of the world’s largest consumer co-operatives, with more than 2,500 stores across the UK alone, committed to improving sustainability, and finding new ways to become more efficient. The partnership between The Co-op and DS Smith will see 56,000 tonnes of fibre processed in the UK annually at Kemsley Paper Mill, the second largest recovered fibre-based paper facility in Europe.

Irving Pulp and Paper (IPP) has been composting 100% of organic residuals since 2004 to create Biomass Ash which is used by farmers on their fields. This has resulted in a 96% waste diversion of waste from landfills. Irving Biomass Ash is a registered agricultural product under Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulations. The ash is the by-product of green energy biomass boilers at three New Brunswick JDI locations: Irving Pulp & Paper in Saint John, and our sawmills - Grand Lake Timber in Chipman and Scierie Grande Rivière in Saint Leonard. As a result, IPP was able to reduce its total waste by 2,914 tonnes in 2018. Today, 96% of waste at IPP is being diverted from landfills because of reusing or recycling.

To mark European Paper Bag Day, PEFC and AB Group Packaging present the world's first PEFC-certified fully recyclable, biodegradable, 100% sustainable Reusable Paper Bag. Sustainable, forest-based packaging such as paper bags reduce plastic waste and carbon emissions and make a significant contribution to a more sustainable, circular economy. Carbon stored in wood fibres remains in the paper bags, and is not released during their life cycle. Paper bags are therefore sustainable and efficient packaging that contribute to fighting climate change and environmental pollution.

Resolute is pleased to support Sous les pavés, an initiative to transform paved urban areas across Quebec into green spaces by planting native plants, trees and shrubs. The initiative is led by the Montreal Urban Ecology Centre, an organization devoted to promoting sustainable urban policy and practices. Green spaces in cities and towns provide so many important environmental benefits, such as mitigating the effects of climate change. They produce oxygen, filter air pollutants and moderate heat, as well as absorb rainfall, help restore water cycles and reduce flood risk. They also provide local residents an opportunity to relax, exercise, socialize or simply appreciate nature.

In recent years, indigenous communities have made significant progress in securing acknowledgement of their human rights and the property rights for their land and their traditional knowledge. Forest certification has the potential to enhance this positive development and further the recognition of indigenous rights. The PEFC Sustainability Benchmarks require that areas fundamental to meeting the needs of indigenous peoples and local communities, such as health and subsistence, shall be protected or managed in a way that takes due regard of the significance of the site.

Two Sides North America is looking for a Director of Operations to take a leading role in the coordination and management of daily activities related to the Two Sides and Keep Me Posted campaigns in the U.S. and Canada which promote the attractiveness, sustainability and importance of paper and print in our daily lives. Details at: https://twosidesna.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2019/10/TS-Director-of-Operations-Oct.2019.pdf

The Navigator Company is the first Portuguese company – and one of the first worldwide – to take on the commitment of achieving carbon neutrality 15 years early, by giving all of its industrial complexes a net zero carbon footprint by 2035. In order to achieve this mission, Navigator announced today at its Sustainability Forum that it will be investing a total of €158 million. “It is with great pleasure that I address this Sustainability Forum and commend your dedication to the issue of climate change,” António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, wrote in a letter addressed to the event participants.

The forest sector, through its advancement of sustainably managed forests and forest-based products, has a significant role to play in the circular economy and can provide critical solutions for global…

In keeping with our clear commitment to sustainability, Lecta operates according to the highest environmental standards, guaranteeing innovative, safe and responsible products, the result of environment-friendly, responsible manufacturing processes. At a time of heightened awareness of the need to conserve natural resources and protect our planet, Lecta once again shares its success and progress in this area. This is the product of a long history of best practices, and significant investment in sustainable new technology and important environmental improvement projects at all our mills. In total, the company has invested more than 146 million euros over the last 10 years in this priority objective. This effort and commitment is reflected in the environmental indicators contained in the Environmental Report, the majority of which derive from each mill’s environmental declaration verified by an independent body prior to publication.

DS Smith, the leading sustainable packaging company, announces today that it is expanding its coffee cup recycling programme to Europe through its De Hoop Mill in the Netherlands. The launch, which follows a successful trial at the mill, aims to tackle the 4.5 billion disposable coffee cups currently used by coffee lovers in Benelux annually and stop them ending up in landfill or incineration. The recycler first introduced a bespoke recycling approach for cups at its Kemsley Paper Mill in the UK. As a result of efforts by DS Smith and others in the industry, coffee cup recycling has increased from 1 in 400 to 1 in 25 cups over the past two years in the UK1. It is determined to see an equally powerful impact in Europe, which is the largest market of coffee drinkers on the planet, representing 30% of the global coffee market.

Though no larger than mustard seeds, the fruit of the Brassica carinata plant carries huge promise for carbon-neutral traffic. The “bio” prefix in biofuels might suggest a straightforward option for mitigating climate change. But cultivating plants as feedstock for biofuels is not entirely unproblematic. Not all methods of crop cultivation are sustainable, or climate friendly. And, moreover, if fields are allocated for cultivating biofuel feedstock, will there be enough land left over for farming food crops to feed the ever-growing global population? These are among many complex issues coming under increased scrutiny as the menace of climate change looms larger. Brassica carinata, however, is a plant that seems perfect for the biofuels industry. The grain is unfit for human consumption, yet it contains oil that is highly suitable as raw material for biofuel. As carinata grows in winter outside the normal planting season, it can be sown in the same fields as summer food crops. However, only 30% of land is currently in productive use during winter with winter.

In 2018, FSC US began revising the US Forest Management Standard (v1.1), with an overall goal of maintaining continuity and consistency to the extent possible. The process is expected to continue into 2021. The objectives for the revision process include the following: •Align the US standard with the new FSC Principles & Criteria (Version 5), and International Generic Indicators (IGI). •Address a small number of high-priority issues identified by stakeholders. •Incorporate guidance that has been in use, but not formally adopted into the standard. •Complete editorial and grammatical clarifications.

PEFC invites stakeholders around the world to comment on the Vietnamese national system, following its submission to PEFC for endorsement. To give your feedback, head to our Online Consultation Tool. This is the first time that Vietnam has submitted its national forest certification system, marking an important step towards PEFC certification in the country. Make your comments now! The deadline is 25 November. The Viet Nam Forest Certification System (VFCS) joined the PEFC alliance in June earlier this year, becoming our 50th national member.

First time exhibitor Mid America Paper Recycling (booth 221) plans to showcase the benefits of an industry-first waste audit report and explain recycling best practices at the TAPPI CorrExpo, October 14-16 at the Denver Convention Center. One of the largest independent brokers, processors and exporters of recovered paper in the Central United States, Chicago-based MAPR has deep roots in the printing industry dating back to when it was founded in 1926. As large commercial printers and paperboard converters search for new methods to improve their revenue sources, MAPR’s experience in the recycling process can likely help them. “I felt our decision to exhibit at TAPPI CorrExpo for the first time this year was a natural. We have been working with paper industry and corrugated users for years,” said Paul Pirkle, who joined Mid America Paper Recycling as president last year.

Sustainable development is usually described as encompassing three main pillars: Environmental, social, and economic. But there are other important dimensions that need to be addressed. “Sustainability is about much more than just the environmental, social and economic dimensions. It is also about the dimensions of space and time, both of which need to be addressed for sustainable development to make a real difference on the ground,” said Thorsten Arndt, Head of Communications at PEFC International, at the 2nd International Convention on Sustainable Trade and Standards in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “The dimension of space means that we have to translate our global understanding of sustainable development into the local context and address the unique local framework conditions, which are different from country to country,” Mr. Arndt explained. “The dimension of time takes into account that our understanding and our expectations of sustainability change over time, so we need to adapt it on a regular basis,” he continued.