Georgia-Pacific Wins the American Forest & Paper Association Better Practices, Better Planet 2030 Innovation in Sustainability Award for Juno® Technology

In recent years, a variety of sustainability labels have found their way onto paper and pulp products to highlight their environmental performance, recyclability, and the role that paper and board play in the circular economy. To meet the market demand for an increasing volume of labelled products, Mercer has committed to an ambitious goal: by 2030, at least 80% of the wood used to manufacture our products will be certified. But trade, and the industry in particular, reach their limits when it comes to making products with both an FSC certification and their availability in sufficient quantities. This is especially problematic if the raw materials are to come from a regional source. There are many reasons for the insufficient provision of FSC wood from German lands for pulp and thus for paper production. At the end of all considerations, it is the complexity of the FSC system, with many rules and requirements, that prevents greater success in Germany. This complex system also prevents the assertion of a great idea: that sustainable management in the forest takes into account the interests of forestry and forest management, social concerns, and environmental interests.

Södra’s port in Mönsterås, Sweden, will become completely free from fossil fuels in October. All work vehicles and cranes at the port will begin using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) diesel – a completely fossil-free alternative to standard diesel, as the company says in the press release received by Lesprom Network. Södra’s port has four cranes and 16 work vehicles. Together, these handle about 3 million tonnes of freight each year. The freight is loaded for transport to Europe by land and sea and includes 430,000 tonnes of paper pulp and 170,000 cubic metres of sawn timber. This will now be carried out using only fossil-free HVO diesel. The switchover at the port began in the spring of 2017 and was completed at the end of September. The move is part of Södra’s sustainability targets that aim to achieve fossil-free production by 2020 and fossil-free transportation by 2030 – targets adopted in 2016 and assigned the same status as Södra’s financial targets. Click Read More below for additional information.

Sustainable forestry is about caring for the long-term resilience of forests and is often wrongly associated with the environmentally and socially destructive practice of deforestation. Deforestation is one of the largest contributors to climate change because when trees are lost to forest fires or die and decay due to insects or disease without proper regeneration, the stored carbon is permanently released into the atmosphere. Forests are considered carbon sinks, because as trees grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the air, converting it into plant matter by way of photosynthesis. It’s well-documented that the destruction of these naturally occurring carbon sinks is detrimental to our environment and the balance of global temperatures. The commitment made in November 2022 at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) is evidence of this significance, with leaders representing over 85% of the world’s forests pledging to halve and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030.