AF&PA Disappointed in EPA Retaining Federal Human Health Water Quality Standards for the State of Maine

Forest Stewardship Council, the world’s most trusted forest certification system, announced its 2019 FSC Leadership Awards in a celebration held in conjunction with Greenbuild 2019. Recognizing enduring commitment to forest conservation, the Awards highlight uncommon excellence that advances responsible forest management. “From biodiversity and carbon storage to a sustainable supply of wood and fiber, people are waking up to the importance of responsibly managed forests to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges,” said Corey Brinkema, president of the Forest Stewardship Council U.S. “This year’s FSC Leadership Award winners demonstrate that we can conserve forests, fight climate change and protect wildlife habitat, even as we use forest products every day,” he added. FSC Leadership Awards celebrate forest owners, builders, architects, retailers, paper mills, manufacturers, environmental organizations and many others who contribute to the movement toward responsible sourcing and forest management.

Building on the sustainability success of paper based packaging and recycling, the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) today released a new tool, The Design Guidance for Recyclability, a data-driven resource to aid packaging designers and brands in the design and manufacture of packaging to meet recyclability goals. The guide provides data on how certain non-fiber elements, such as coatings and additives, impact the recyclability of paper-based packaging. Key findings include: *Non-fiber elements may present a recycling “challenge” when they slow down the mill’s pulping process, plug screening systems or leave residue on finished paper or paperboard. However, innovations in packaging design and materials, as well as improvements in recycling technology, have made these treatments easier to recycle than historically. *Being a “challenge” does not mean “not recyclable.” Each non-fiber element applied to each kind of packaging was rated by some mills as not a “challenge.” The Design Guidance for Recyclability is available for free download at: afandpa.org/sustainability/design-guidance

Every two years, FSC International conducts a survey of certified companies worldwide, to better understand perspectives about FSC and the market for FSC-certified products. Recently, FSC released the Global Market Survey for 2014, which includes a range of interesting findings. The survey was conducted during June-July 2014, with results based on responses from 3,656 certificate holders from 95 countries. This represents a 13 percent response rate (based on 27,289 certified companies in the FSC system at that time). 445 responses came from companies in the U.S.