PaperChain Chats: Phil Riebel (Sustainable Paper Group) discusses the Environmental Paper Assessment Tool (EPAT)

You may be familiar with forest management certification, the voluntary process in which an indeendent, accredited third-party auditor conducts an onsite assessment of forestland to determine the quality of forest management against established standards such as those developed by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®), Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification™ (PEFC™). Perhaps less familiar, but far more prevalent, is fiber sourcing certification. Around 90% of all forestland globally is not certified. For North American paper manufacturers who do not own their own forestland, this means they need a way to document that the wood they buy from non-certified forests is sourced responsibly. Certifying their wood and fiber procurement operations to a sustainable sourcing standard provides strong, proven mechanisms that enable responsible sourcing. The American Forest and Paper Association reports that of the total wood fiber from forests used for products, its members procure more than 99% through a certified fiber sourcing program.

Every day we send email, navigate the web and store our videos, photos or music in the Cloud. We often have the impression that the whole process is trivial and nearly free, but this is not at all the case. So says L’Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Énergie (ADEME), an agency of the government of France which, promotes an environmental approach to the workplace and to daily living. In a recent Guide, La Face Cachée de Numérique, (The Hidden Face of Digital), they describe the widespread environmental impacts of the growing number of digital devices (increasing energy consumption, use of primary minerals, pollution and waste production) and how to reduce them. In the Guide, it is estimated that there are 2 billion smartphones, 1 billion computers, 5 to7 billion other connected devices and 45 billion servers worldwide and that 8.4 billion connected devices would be sold in the world in 2017, 31% more than in 2016. The forecast for 2020 is 50 billion connected devices. In one hour, there are 8 to 10 billion emails sent (not including spam) and 180 million Google searches and the average distance a piece of data travels is 15,000 km. Click Read More below for additional detail.

A new survey conducted by global packaging leader Smurfit Kappa has revealed that consumers are making a statement by demanding more sustainable packaging from brands before making online fashion purchases. The survey, which was conducted with consumers across four European countries, found 41% of online fashion shoppers have become more eco-conscious when buying the latest fashion online since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The research, which surveyed consumers in Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands and the UK, found nearly half of consumers purchase fashion items online once a month or more, reflecting its increasing popularity among both female (44%) and male (43%) shoppers. The research found: >23% of fashion consumers have researched a brand online to assess its level of sustainability >35% of fashion consumers stated they would not make an online purchase from a fashion company if they discovered its packaging wasn't eco-friendly >23% of those surveyed have re-purchased from a fashion brand based on its sustainability credentials