New Jersey bans plastic and paper bags in one of nation’s most stringent laws (chainstoreage.com)

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock and American Wood Council (AWC) President and CEO Jackson Morrill released the following statement regarding today’s DC Circuit Court’s decision on Boiler MACT. “We are pleased the Court affirmed EPA’s (and our) position that the already stringent air pollution limits for industrial boilers satisfy the requirements of the Clean Air Act. The forest products industry has invested roughly a billion dollars to reduce boiler emissions and welcomes the regulatory certainty to make sustainable forest products in the U.S. while supporting high paying manufacturing jobs. In addition, we welcome the Court’s common sense decision instructing EPA to only apply recently tightened new source limits to boilers built after 2020. This will provide mills with the information needed to comply when installing new boilers.”  

Metsä Board has been recognised by CDP as a global leader for its actions and strategies to manage water more sustainably. This is the second consecutive year that Metsä Board has been positioned on the CDP Water A List, where only 4% of the companies disclosing were accepted. The CDP Water A List was announced last year for the first time. Metsä Board was honoured to be one of the eight companies on the 2015 list. This year 607 companies disclosed their water management to CDP, and Metsä Board is one of only 24 global companies to make the 2016 Water A List. “We’re delighted to have again earned a spot on the CDP Water A List among the world’s best performing companies on water security,” says Mika Joukio, CEO of Metsä Board. “Metsä Board’s mills are located in one of the most water rich areas in the world. However, we still use our water resources efficiently and seek continuously new ways to reduce its use. Responsible water management is a vital part in our resource efficiency programme as reduced water use improves our energy and production efficiency.” click Read More below for more of the story

Preliminary results of a research project conducted by Virginia Tech on the disposal of wood pallets at landfill sites reveal that 95% of wooden pallets are being recycled. The landfill avoidance study was independently conducted at Virginia Tech over two years. Both municipal and solid waste (MSW) and construction and demolition (C&D) landfill facilities were surveyed to better understand how pallets were being handled at these facilities. According to the study, the number of pallets entering the landfill reduced by 86%, for both MSW and C&D facilities. Environmental awareness, limited space and a desire to be more waste efficient have driven many of these facilities to sort and recover certain types of waste. The overall presence of wood pallets at landfill facilities also significantly decreased. Click Read More below for additional information.