Graphic Dimensions Joins Two Sides

The U.S. paper industry has met or exceeded a 63 percent recycling rate since 2009. Paper and wood products are widely used across the United States — from toilet paper and paper towels to corrugated and paper bags used to deliver items to your home. And these essential products have something in common — recyclability. Recycled wood fiber can be used at least seven times to create new products, and approximately 80 percent of U.S. paper mills depend on recovered fiber from recycling operations to make the everyday, essential products we rely on.

Climate change remains a major threat to the planet. Halting deforestation and protecting the world’s forests is seen as an important solution to the global crisis, but also as way to halt biodiversity loss and maintain ecosystem services. Further, forests provide us with alternative nature-based products including sustainable and renewable material for a circular economy. Siti Syaliza Mustapha, PEFC’s Deputy Secretary General/COO highlighted: “We all share a common objective - to promote sustainable forest management and supply chains that achieve high sustainability standards. We need to employ multiple tools to achieve positive effects of forest use and work together to promote forest education and dissemination of credible information to support our joint efforts.”

Finnish forest owners have enthusiastically welcomed the measures implementing Metsä Group’s regenerative forestry principles. Of wood trades completed during Metsä Group’s campaign in February–April 2024, approximately 40 per cent were agreed in accordance with the Metsä Group Plus management model. In terms of cubic volume of wood trades, the share was over 50 per cent during the campaign. Metsä Group’s parent company Metsäliitto Cooperative is owned by more than 90,000 Finnish forest-owners, who own around half of Finland’s private forests. The measures we carry out jointly with forest-owners significantly improve the natural state of forests. The Metsä Group Plus forest management model pays increasingly close attention to forest biodiversity and forest nature in the implementation of forest work. The model includes measures that improve the state of forest nature and are more comprehensive than current established practices and certificate requirements.