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When it comes to providing supply chain assurances, producing conservation outcomes, and supporting education and community engagement – Forests are the Answer. The 2018 SFI Annual Conference will explore this theme and engage you in a discussion focused on why Forests are the Answer to so many of the most important sustainability challenges we face in the sector and in our communities.
The SFI Annual Conference brings together thought leaders and influencers: forest sector representatives, conservation and community partners, and Indigenous leaders as well as some of the most engaged forest product customers in North America. This year’s conference will discuss topics relevant to national and international initiatives across the forest sector. Come to the 2018 SFI Annual Conference to learn more and engage with the SFI community.
The 2017 SFI Annual Conference by the Numbers
97% of post-conference survey respondents would recommend this conference to a colleague
Between 300 and 500 people attended the SFI Conference and joint sessions held with the Canadian Institute of Forestry
People came from around the world representing 11 countries: United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, Malawi, Netherlands, South Africa, and Switzerland
SFI’s student mentorship program included 28 students from 13 universities and three countries
Highlights from Past SFI Annual Conferences
Below is a video of highlights from the 2017 SFI Annual Conference.
American Forest & Paper Association Executive Director of Packaging Terry Webber issued the following statement regarding California recycling legislation (SB 54 and AB 1080) which failed to advance in the 2019 state legislative session:
“The American Forest & Paper Association is pleased SB 54 and AB 1080 will not advance out of California’s 2019 legislative session. While we agreed with the goals of the legislation to support recycling and reduce waste, it is not ready to become law. These bills would have created an unrealistic regulatory framework for an implementing agency already facing challenges fixing troubled recycling programs.
“If the court forces EPA to lower of the ozone standard even more, projects to keep paper and wood products manufacturing facilities competitive could be halted, putting at risk countless high-paying jobs in rural America. The new standard at 70 parts per billion (ppb) is already precariously close to background levels in the environment. Lowering the ozone limit to 65 ppb or lower - as petitioners demand - would unnecessarily divert needed resources from more productive use and is not supported by the scientific evidence.”
Earlier this year, Starbucks sent 18 truckloads of old paper cups to a paper mill in Wisconsin to prove a point: Contrary to a widespread myth, paper coffee cups can be recycled cost-effectively. The cups–25 million in total, from excess inventory that the coffee chain otherwise would have sent to landfill–were processed at the mill. Then the recycled fiber was sent to another partner to be incorporated into paperboard for new Starbucks cups. The pilot project was a way to “demonstrate that a coffee cup can be turned back into a coffee cup,” says Jay Hunsberger, VP of sales for North America from Sustana, the mill that recycled the old cups. At the mill, the cups were mixed with water and ground into a pulp with a seven-foot-tall corkscrew to begin to separate the plastic lining that helps keep coffee cups from getting soggy. The fibers were screened and washed to finish the separation, then made into sheets and sent to WestRock, a packaging company, to be made into paperboard. At a third company, Seda, the board was printed with the Starbucks logo and shaped into new cups. Click read more below for additional detail.