Happy Earth Day!

The Atlantic Forest that hugs the coastal areas of Brazil is one of the country's most environmentally threatened biomes. UPM Raflatac is pleased to announce it will be contributing to the protection of this vital ecosystem by partnering on a one-hectare reforestation project of the Jaguari River. UPM Raflatac has teamed up with the Prefeitura Municipal de Jaguariúna, Ambev, The Nature Conservancy, Associação Mata Ciliar, Embrapa-Meio Ambiente, Agência das Bacias PCJ and Agência Nacional de Águas (ANA) for this reforestation project along a Permanent Protection Area of the Jaguari River in the city of Jaguariúna, where UPM Raflatac Brazil is headquartered and operates a terminal supporting the South American market. The project will kick-off on Wednesday, October 5 with a special tree planting event to be attended by UPM Raflatac employees and local students. Part of the city of Jaguariúna's "Programa Bacias Jaguariúna," which creates partnerships with companies located there, the Brazil Reforestation Project will create a riparian buffer zone along the Jaguari River, which supplies 95 percent of the water supply to the nearby city. Riparian buffers help improve water quality by preventing pollutants from reaching a river or stream, and by planting 1,666 native Mata Atlantic species trees, construction of fences along the recovered area, and continued maintenance, the river will flow cleaner than ever before. It is expected the project will last for two years, due to wildfire prevention, soil treatment, irrigation, and growth of the planted trees. click Read More for additional detail

It has been almost a year since the Paris Climate Change Agreement was adopted in December of 2015. The agreement set out a goal and initiated a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. It took most of 2016 for the Agreement to be signed and ratified and the Agreement did not enter into force until November 4, 2016. Key to this process was a joint ceremony on April 22, 2016 in which President Obama of the United States, and President Xi Jinping of China signed and ratified the Agreement on behalf of their respective countries. The US and China are the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases on the planet.

Alzamora Group, a leading Spanish cardboard packaging manufacturer, has recently celebrated the second year of its LatCub packaging solution. The revolutionary renewable, biodegradable and fully recyclable cardboard packaging replaces the plastic ring-pull and shrink-wrap around beverage cans. This new sustainable packaging solution is produced without any plastic or tape and offers brands extensive advertising opportunities. LatCub is the first container of its kind available on the market and is a clear example of the future of packaging.