Download the fact-sheet at: https://twosides.info/documents/factsheets/Coronavirus-(SARS-COV-2)-Surface-Stability.pdf . The world has altered very quickly over the past few months. Almost every aspect of daily life has been completely changed, from business and politics to culture and society, and it’s going to be a while until anything gets back to normal. At a time when there’s intense focus on the spread of Covid-19 and ways in which that spread can be reduced, there’s been a lot of attention on different surfaces and how those surfaces can retain and potentially spread the virus. Since paper and card are very physical mediums, they have come under the spotlight, with concerns expressed about whether people can catch coronavirus simply by touching. So we have researched the facts relating to Covid-19 transmission through paper/cardboard surfaces. click read more for additional insight

Our Plymouth Mill has taken another step toward a more sustainable future thanks to the success of a recent resource conservation project. Just one year after the installation of a cooling tower and new heat exchangers, the mill’s closed-loop system for heating process water has exceeded expectations by dramatically reducing daily water consumption and fuel costs. Last May, the team installed a cooling tower and two large heat exchangers to reclaim waste heat from the mill and use it to reduce steam consumption. While the resource conservation project was originally expected to eliminate the use of about 11 million gallons of river water per day, Operations Manager David Council says the system is performing better than expected, saving approximately 18 million gallons of water per day. Before the team installed the new equipment, the mill used water from the nearby Roanoke River to cool mill processes. The mill returned the water to the river in the same condition, only slightly warmer. With the addition of the cooling tower and heat exchangers, the mill now has a closed-loop system that reclaims heat from the mill’s evaporation equipment and transfers it to process water. The reclaimed heat reduces the mill’s steam load, which means it burns less fuel in the boilers to make steam.

"As far as recyclability is concerned, the plastic bottle is probably slightly better because it is likely only made from one plastic, and so is easier to recycle than a multilayer material like a beverage carton," says Rolf Buschmann, waste and resource expert with the German environmental organization BUND, who worked on the group's 2019 Plastic Atlas. He explains that only the paper part of the drink carton would be recycled — everything else, including the plastic coating or layer or aluminum foil, would be incinerated as residual waste. "In recent years there's been a trend toward so-called multilayer packaging, which is extremely light and thin. It saves material as well as CO2 emissions during transport, but can't be recycled," Christiani says. Because it is not possible to melt the different plastics together, or — at least for now — to separate the individual films from one another at recycling plants. A 2017 cyclos-HTP study into the recyclability of conventional packaging waste concluded that a third of it was not recyclable, and only 40% of the remaining two-thirds was made into plastic recyclate. The rest was used as fuel — in other words it was incinerated. click read more below for more of the story

*61% of consumers expect the brands they buy from to have clear sustainability practices *Customer experience / satisfaction is the leading metric businesses (58%) use to measure return on investment from sustainability practices *Two-thirds of UK businesses struggle to measure impact of their sustainability strategies *Sustainability to remain a priority for businesses in post Covid-19 era *A new survey by packaging leader Smurfit Kappa has provided insights into how Conscious Consumerism is continuing to drive the need for UK organisations to embed sustainability into business operations. With a growing demand for higher transparency of companies’ sustainability practices amongst a new generation of consumers, the survey also highlights how two thirds of UK businesses struggled to measure the bottom-line impact of their sustainability strategies.

Many brands and retailers could reduce the climate impact of their packaging up to 50 percent and avoid thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted to air. The results is based on a large number of life cycle assessments performed by BillerudKorsnäs in a new tool that evaluates the environmental impact of different packaging solutions. The digital tool has received a warm welcome by customers and brand owners in their pursuit of reducing carbon emissions. Global demand for packaging is rising with sustainability as a strong driver, which means future packaging will need to be designed so that it does not impact our climate. The recently introduced digital tool contains an extensive database on different packaging materials, including data from BillerudKorsnäs’ own production. By selecting a number of parameters related to the packaging, such as material, size, production location, transport, and disposal method, it will show the total life cycle impact for carbon dioxide emissions and water consumption. At BillerudKorsnäs, the tool is mainly used to improve supply chain efficiency and environmental performance for customers with production in Asia. Customers can then use the information in their environmental communication and sustainability reporting.

UPM has newly adopted the target of doubling the amount of broadleaved trees growing in company-owned forests in Finland. In the light of current research data, increasing the proportion of broadleaved trees improves the forest’s growth and yield as well as its species diversity and resistance to climate change. UPM plans to increase the proportion of broadleaved trees to one fifth of all tree species growing in habitats that are suitable for birch. The dominant tree species growing in Finnish forests are typically pine and spruce. The decision to increase broadleaved trees is an important and timely move. “It makes sense from every angle. It will improve our yield capacity and also safeguard biodiversity. It will additionally ensure that our forests stay healthy and better equipped to resist the altered conditions caused by climate change. In the multi-purpose forestry sector, we strongly rely on native tree species,” says Sauli Brander, SVP, UPM Forest.

Global sustainable food packaging leader Huhtamaki and international charity WasteAid have announced a €900,000 (£800,000) partnership to drive community-level circular economy innovation in Vietnam, India and South Africa for a two-year period. To mark its 100-year anniversary, Huhtamaki is donating €3 million to global sustainability initiatives with a local impact - acting today, educating for tomorrow and funding innovation for the future, making a difference where it matters most to help address global sustainability challenges and build circular economy initiatives. The Huhtamaki funded project will provide financial support to WasteAid to deliver education and training on waste management and circular systems. It will enable WasteAid to work with key stakeholders in Johannesburg (South Africa), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and Guwahati (Assam, India) to fast-track and amplify local solutions that create value and reduce waste and pollution, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Smurfit Kappa is taking another step forward in its sustainability journey by signing a commitment to align its CO2 target with the Science Based Target (SBT) initiative. The move follows on from the packaging leader recently revealing in its 2019 Sustainable Development Report that it has reduced its fossil CO2 emission intensity by almost a third (32.9%) since 2005. The SBT is a collaboration between the UN Global Compact, WWF, CDP and World Resources Institute (WRI). The initiative champions science-based target setting as a powerful way to boost companies’ competitive advantage in the transition to a low-carbon economy and focuses in particular on validating their CO2 reduction targets in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

The Covid-19 pandemic may have changed working habits and the way we interact with others, but the climate emergency has remained constant even as the world goes into lockdown. At a time of crisis, it can be easy to forget the net-zero pledges that companies and countries across the world have committed to over the past few years, but they still stand, reminding us that reducing our impact on the environment is more important than ever. One way of doing so is through the circular economy, with one of its key pillars to keep materials in use for as long as possible, thereby reducing the need for virgin materials and, ultimately, limiting the excessive consumption of resources.

Forest owners and companies still regularly burn parts of the forests they own. Far from being dangerous, experts say this is necessary for the healthy growth of trees. Prescribed burning of forests is a widely accepted and traditional tool for forest management across the world, including the US and UK. It is well planned, has pre-defined limits and a definite purpose. In many parts of the world it is also used as a tool to contain out of control wildfires, prevent forest fires, revitalise natural habitats and preserve biodiversity. The case of the False darkling beetle in Finland is proof that there is merit in this approach.

PEFC and the Thailand Forestry Certification Council (TFCC), our national member for Thailand, have launched a group certification project to support smallholders producing rubber in Thailand. Presented in the Trang province in Thailand in March, the project supports the Klongprang Cooperative in implementing group certification for 1000 hectares of forest, managed by small-scale rubber growers. A wide range of stakeholders from the industry is participating in this effort, providing not only technical and financial support but also market information and demand for the certified products. The pilot project will build a group model and supporting mechanisms to enable more smallholders to achieve TFCC/PEFC certification in the upcoming years.

Metsä Board, the leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and part of Metsä Group, has started a rapids fishery restoration project together with WWF Finland and the local Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment. Construction work at Mämmenkoski, located in Äänekoski in Central Finland, began in early May and will take a month to complete. The aim of the restoration is to make it possible for fish to naturally migrate from Lake Kuhnamo to Lake Ala-Keitele. In addition, it is hoped that it will re-establish the possibility of natural fry production of lake trout in the rapids. The restoration project will open two existing dams to remove obstacles from the fish migration route. The riverbed will be restored into a natural migration route and spawning areas will be formed to enable natural fry production of the trout. The project has been developed in cooperation with the local fishery community.

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) today announced 66.2 percent of paper consumed in the United States was recovered for recycling in 2019. Over the last decade, the U.S. paper industry achieved a consistently high recycling rate, meeting or exceeding 63 percent since 2009 — a rate that’s nearly doubled since 1990, when the industry first set a paper recycling goal. The recycling rate for old corrugated containers (OCC) in 2019 was 92.0 percent, and the three-year average OCC recycling rate is 92.3 percent. “Paper recycling continues to be an environmental success story,” said AF&PA President and CEO Heidi Brock. “More than twice as much paper is recycled than is sent to landfills, saving an average of 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space for each ton of paper recycled. This is a testament to consumer behavior and an industry commitment to paper recycling. AF&PA members continue to invest in manufacturing infrastructure that will allow us to recycle even more paper in the years ahead.”

PEFC provides a space for people to come together to jointly determine how our forests should be managed. “We all love forests in one way or the other, and we all wish to be involved with them and feel ownership of them. There is a kind of moral ownership of forests by everyone in society,” Ben explains. “That is why it's important to get everyone involved in a multi-stakeholder process in determining how a forest is managed.” “By having everyone involved, it allows all of us to understand better the different needs of different stakeholders and to try and find the correct balance to meet all of those needs, in a way that allows those forests to be managed sustainably and to be supported by all of us.”

Smurfit Kappa is making significant progress in reducing its relative CO2 emissions according to its 13th annual Sustainable Development Report (SDR) which was published today. The leading provider of paper-based packaging, Smurfit Kappa reported a 32.9% reduction in fossil CO2 emission intensity between 2005 and 2019. While this is an impressive achievement, the company’s current target is even more ambitious as it seeks to reduce relative CO2 emissions by 40% by 2030, in comparison to the 2005 baseline. In addition to seeking SBT validation*, Smurfit Kappa is also looking to build on more than a decade of providing full CO2 disclosures by supporting the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures, a global body which develops climate-related financial risk disclosures which are used to provide information for investors, lenders and insurers.

This month’s Member Spotlight features Rolland Enterprises Inc. A leading North American producer of uncoated papers, Rolland manufactures papers with up to 100% post-consumer content. With operations in Quebec and Wisconsin, the company’s operations include a paper mill and converting facility, as well as two state-of-the-art facilities that produce premium recycled pulp. Founded in 1882, Rolland’s enduring commitment to quality, innovation and sustainable manufacturing include sustainable sourcing, energy efficiency, water conservation, wastewater treatment technology, recycling of process byproducts and a continuing focus on further reducing its environmental footprint. Rolland uses the life cycle assessment (LCA) process to guide its sustainability improvement objectives and makes the results of its LCAs public, confirming the company’s environmental stewardship to its many stakeholders. For example, an LCA identified a gap in the company’s water consumption which enabled it to improve its water recycling systems. Today, Rolland’s paper mill has a closed-loop system that uses six times less water and recycles the water 30 times. One of the company’s most successful environmental innovations is the use of 93% renewable biogas energy to manufacture products at its paper mill — the only mill in North America to use primarily biogas for energy. An eight-mile-long pipeline feeds the mill with purified methane gas captured at a nearby landfill. This reduces Rolland’s annual CO2 footprint by 70,000 tons or the equivalent of taking 23,400 compact cars off the road for one year.

At PEFC we are convinced that one size does not fit all when it comes to forest certification. This is why we work through national forest certification systems, enabling our national members to tailor their sustainable forest management requirements to the specific forest ecosystems, the legal and administrative framework and the socio-cultural context in their countries. National systems are developed locally, but they need to undergo rigorous third-party assessment to ensure consistency with our international requirements. However, achieving PEFC endorsement of a national forest certification system is not the final step. National standards are reviewed regularly so we know they continue to meet our evolving benchmarks and national and international expectations.

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI) announced 10 SFI Community Grants featuring collaboration between 40 partner organizations. This commitment to local communities helps SFI achieve its mission of advancing sustainability through forest-focused collaborations that: *provide educators with tools to showcase green career pathways with students *incorporate Indigenous knowledge into forest management planning and education curriculum *build youth engagement in outdoor education and conservation projects *create better building solutions using sustainably sourced mass timber *provide tools to family landowners about bird conservation *showcase research on new and safer logging techniques. click read more below for details

Sustainability is intrinsic to the way we do business at Mondi and central to our strategy for driving success now and in the long-term. Every year we publish a Sustainable Development report, our 2019 report was released a few weeks ago. In it we lay out Mondi’s 10 Growing Responsibly Action Areas where we believe our business can contribute to a better world. Mondi's Ten Action Areas: Employee and contractor safety and health; A skilled and committed workforce; Fairness and diversity in the workplace; Sustainable fibre; Climate change; Constrained resources and environmental impacts; Biodiversity and ecosystems; Supplier conduct and responsible procurement; Relationships with communities; Solutions that create value for our customers. click read more below for details