COP 16: PEFC’s 25-year journey of empowering smallholders and promoting sustainable forest management

The National Recycling Coalition defines recycling as “A series of activities by which material that has reached the end of its current use is processed into material utilized in the production of new products.” The goal of paper recycling, then, is to supply paper and paper packaging manufacturers with enough mill-quality recovered fiber to meet their needs in making new products. And the paper industry, along with our partners in the states, has a very good record of success in doing that. The U.S. paper recovery rate in 2014 was 65.4 percent – up from 63.5 percent in 2013. In all, more than 50 million tons of paper and paper packaging was recovered for recycling last year. AF&PA has a goal to exceed 70 percent paper recovery for recycling by 2020. So how do we improve our performance so that we can grow paper recovery from 65.4 percent to 70 percent?

Amazon today announced a $10 million grant to conserve, restore, and support sustainable forestry, wildlife and nature-based solutions across the Appalachian Mountains, in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy. Nature-based solutions refer to the sustainable management and use of nature for tackling challenges such as removing carbon from the atmosphere to slow climate change and helping maintain water and food security, biodiversity protection, human health, and disaster risk management. This funding will initially support projects in Pennsylvania and Vermont that will help family forest owners sequester carbon and support expansion across the Appalachians in a network of climate-resilient forests that scientists at The Nature Conservancy have identified as most able to thrive in the face of climate change. This is the first project from Amazon’s $100 millionRight Now Climate Fund, an initiative to remove carbon from the atmosphere through the restoration and conservation of forests, wetlands, grasslands and peatlands around the world. Last year, Amazon co-founded with Global Optimism and became the first signatory of The Climate Pledge – committing to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net zero carbon by 2040 through decarbonization of its operations and use of nature-based solutions.

Sustainability lies at the center of Huhtamaki’s 2030 Strategy and the Company is making a leap forward towards delivering on its ambitions by closing two 10-year virtual Power Purchase Agreements (VPPAs) with BayWa r.e., a global renewable energy developer. The 200 GWh agreements cover approximately 80% of Huhtamaki’s current electricity usage in Europe, where the key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions has 18 manufacturing sites in 10 countries. ”We are committed to our ambitious 2030 strategy to become the first choice in sustainable packaging solutions. This means developing a circular approach for our operations and products. We are fully committed to supporting the transition to a zero-carbon economy and have a climate strategy with clear targets and action plans to address all our emissions. Renewable electricity plays a major role in delivering on our ambitions and the agreement we have just signed with BayWa r.e. demonstrates that it is possible to achieve significant progress in a short time,” says Charles Héaulmé, President and CEO of Huhtamaki.