FSC publishes new Interim Forest Stewardship Standard for Botswana

"As far as recyclability is concerned, the plastic bottle is probably slightly better because it is likely only made from one plastic, and so is easier to recycle than a multilayer material like a beverage carton," says Rolf Buschmann, waste and resource expert with the German environmental organization BUND, who worked on the group's 2019 Plastic Atlas. He explains that only the paper part of the drink carton would be recycled — everything else, including the plastic coating or layer or aluminum foil, would be incinerated as residual waste. "In recent years there's been a trend toward so-called multilayer packaging, which is extremely light and thin. It saves material as well as CO2 emissions during transport, but can't be recycled," Christiani says. Because it is not possible to melt the different plastics together, or — at least for now — to separate the individual films from one another at recycling plants. A 2017 cyclos-HTP study into the recyclability of conventional packaging waste concluded that a third of it was not recyclable, and only 40% of the remaining two-thirds was made into plastic recyclate. The rest was used as fuel — in other words it was incinerated. click read more below for more of the story

Using wood in innovative and beautiful ways to bring new life to the Lakeside at Black Butte Ranch — an iconic Oregon resort community near Sisters, Oregon — has earned Portland-based architects Hacker an award from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). The SFI Certified Wood Award is part of the North American Wood Design and Building Awards program. Hacker was presented with the award at the Wood WORKS! BC Wood Design Awards in Vancouver on March 6. The ranch sits at the gateway to Oregon’s high desert. First planned in the early 1970s, the ranch is a vacation destination for many, and a year-round home for some. The new lakeside complex, complete with Sierra Pacific windows and other wood features certified to the SFI Standard, replaces the well-worn main pool facility and revives the heart of the ranch. click Read More below for more of the story

Paper manufacturing is based largely on the use of renewable natural fibers. Until the mid to late 1800s, non-wood plant fibers, in the form of linen and cotton rags and hemp ropes, were the main raw materials for the pulp and paper industry. Increasing demand and developments in low cost wood pulping resulted in a large expansion of the wood-based pulp and paper industry during the early to mid-1900s. Today, wood is the dominant fiber resource for the pulp and paper industry accounting for 90% of the world’s fiber utilization.1 Is tree-free paper really better for the environment? Are current environmental claims about tree-free paper accurate and substantiated? To answer these questions, we reviewed literature on the topic from experts in the field.