The European Manufacturers Paper Honeycomb Association Joins Two Sides

AF&PA’s Better Practices, Better Planet 2020 purchased energy efficiency goal is a great example of a sustainability goal that furthers all three pillars of sustainability: economic, social, and environmental. Using energy more efficiently reduces companies’ overall energy costs, thereby improving profitability; frees up resources for other more productive investments in mills and communities; and, reduces environmental impacts. It also complements our goal to reduce water use in AF&PA member mills by 12 percent, as reducing water use has the added benefit of reducing mills’ energy consumption. On average, AF&PA members meet about two thirds of their energy demand from self-generated renewable biomass. Striving for the most efficient energy consumption is important to companies small and large because our industry remains energy intensive.

The ‘small changes’ process mandated by the FSC Board of Directors at their 86th Meeting aims to improve aspects of gender inclusiveness and the glossary of terms by revising four International Generic Indicators (IGI) in the FSC-STD-60-004 V2-0 EN. For this purpose, an internal technical working group (I-TWG) was appointed in FSC’s Performance and Standards Unit (PSU) in October 2021 to propose draft revised IGI (1.6.4, 4.6.4, 2.2.3 and 2.2.5) and to define a new glossary term. ‘Small changes’ are defined as the revision or addition of one or two requirements. PSU is following Clause 2.2 in Annex 4 of FSC-PRO-01-001 Development and Revision of FSC Normative Documents to conduct this process. FSC is now inviting you to support the process by submitting your feedback through 11 May 2022. The public consultation can be accessed here.

An estimated 32% of all plastic ends up being dumped after just one use, reveals the 2016 New Plastics Economy report. The EU ban on single-use plastics will take effect in 2021. New, tougher requirements will also be introduced for producers of other plastic product categories. “The much-touted new legislation on single-use plastic products will not solve the huge recycling dilemma. Plastics are already a highly regulated product group. They have to be produced using REACH-compliant chemicals, and there is a staggering amount of legislation on recycling. If the EU directives on packaging were fully implemented in all European countries, there would be no need to dump any plastic at all at landfills,” says Vesa Kärhä, CEO of the Finnish Plastics Industries Federation. In Finland, the collection and recycling of consumer plastics is off to a slow start, but gradually catching up with Europe’s leaders, Switzerland and Sweden. “When you look at Europe’s leading recyclers, they have all observed a total ban on landfilling for a long time. In other words, they have totally outlawed a cheap landfill solution. The European plastic industry recommends the same, too. Naturally, it has to be carried out in a way that gives operators enough time to figure out what can be done about the issue. Recycling and energy plants have to be available,” Kärhä notes.