Stakeholders globally are invited to give their feedback on the new PEFC RED II standards, developed to enable organisations to demonstrate compliance with RED II requirements and make RED II compliant declarations. Deadline for comments is 20 April 2024. RED II, the European Union’s (EU) Renewable Energy Directive, establishes sustainability requirements for forestry feedstocks and greenhouse gas criteria for biomass fuels that companies in the renewable energy sector across the EU must comply with to be eligible for financial support by public authorities. PEFC is currently in the process to be recognised by the European Commission as one of the voluntary schemes that organisations can use to make their RED II compliant declarations. Our recognition scope covers forest ligno-cellulosic material, including residues and waste, and biomass fuels made of this material.

Is the Cloquet Sappi mill the greenest in the world? While there hasn't been an official trophy awarded by pulp and paper mills worldwide, Cloquet Sappi manager Mike Schultz is quite certain we have a winner here. It always amazes local people when they find out the Cloquet mill is considered the most environmentally friendly mill in the world. Gone are the days when people used to talk about the "smell" of the paper mill that permeated the air in town — that ended when the new, more efficient pulp mill was constructed some 20 years ago, Schultz said, pointing out that the Cloquet pulp mill (which also now makes chemical cellulose) is still the newest pulp mill in North America. What began years ago as an effort to prolong the life of the on-site landfill, the Cloquet mill has turned into one of the environmental success stories of the millennium. It's been a war fought on many fronts, most of them involving reusing waste that used to end up in the landfill or the sewer, along with a shifting focus to using renewable energy as much as possible. Click Read More below for more of the story.

A new plastics sorting facility inaugurated in Sweden this week is being billed as the largest of its kind, and one designed to double the amount of plastic packaging materials being recycled in the Nordic country. Thanks to cutting-edge technology, the Site Zero plant in the central city of Motala can sort up to 200,000 tons of plastic packaging a year, according to Sweden Plastic Recycling, a nonprofit company co-owned by Swedish plastics, food and trade industry groups. The company says that’s more than any other sorting facility in the world. A unique feature of Site Zero is that it can separate up to 12 different types of plastic. An old plant at the same location could only sort five types of plastic, which meant that only 47% of the material was sent on for recycling and the rest was incinerated, said Mattias Philipsson, CEO of Sweden Plastic Recycling.