Approval Granted to Begin Construction on Environmental Treatment Facility

According to McKinsey, the pandemic accelerated the shift to e-commerce by as much as ten years, completely altering consumer and industry trends in a matter of months. While a lot of businesses benefited from reaching new and larger audiences online, supply chains were left to figure out how to adapt based on increased consumer demand for packaging. Meanwhile, consumers have been increasingly paying closer attention to the sustainability practices of companies and brands. More than half of U.S. consumers are highly concerned about the environmental impact of packaging. Companies, then, are challenged to find cost-effective and sustainable packaging at speed and scale. But embracing sustainability in the supply chain isn’t as simple as switching out your current packaging for a perceived “eco-friendly” alternative. Before anything else, companies must define what sustainable means. Consider paper packaging — it’s commonly accepted as an environmentally friendlier option, but it requires access to forests. In this case, companies would be forced to weigh the benefits of paper packaging with limited supplies and the environmental costs of acquiring it. much more at source

The Myanmar Forest Certification Scheme was submitted to PEFC for endorsement last month. The public consultation, which is your chance to give your feedback on this new system, will run from 16 August to 14 October. This is the first time the Myanmar Forest Certification Committee (MFCC), the PEFC national member for Myanmar, has applied for PEFC endorsement of the country’s national forest certification system. To provide you with additional information, we are holding a webinar on 16 August, at 10:00 CEST. The webinar is free to attend, and everyone is welcome. Register for the webinar at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYsfuCurDgiE9W7O8dsRj12DlKdZb0Md7Tn

Results from a recent U.S. consumer survey suggest that the majority of Americans agree that print and paper can be a sustainable way to communicate when produced and used responsibly. In fact, it seems many people distrust and are not swayed by corporate green claims used to promote online services over paper. See below for my five favorite results from the June 2016 Toluna survey. 1. 88% agree that when forests are responsibly managed it is environmentally acceptable to use trees to produce products such as wood for construction and paper for printing (81% of 18 to 24 year olds). This is my favorite one! It tells me the large majority of Americans accept the use of trees as a renewable resource to make forest products - as long as it is done responsibly, i.e. by using sustainable forest management and best practices. Great news! It’s no wonder that “go paperless – save trees” claims may be lost on most consumers, even millennials. Not only are these type of claims misleading (for more on that click here) but I would also argue that they are an ineffective marketing startegy. In fact, they probably make most people skeptical or cynical of the real corporate goal…see stat below! - click on Read More below for the rest of the story