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.”  

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) presented the 2021 Leadership in Conservation Award to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and SFI-certified company West Fraser, today. The winners were recognized for their innovative leadership in connecting sustainable forest management with Canada’s commitment to protected and conserved areas. The Government of Canada is committed to conserving 25% of its land and 25% of its oceans by 2025 and is working toward 30% for each by 2030. SFI, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and West Fraser are collaborating to ensure that conservation outcomes in Canada’s sustainably managed forests are fully recognized and contribute toward Canada’s Target 1 goals for conservation protection. The Target 1 Challenge is an investment by the federal government in projects that add to Canada’s protected and conserved areas across the country. “The winners are taking an innovative approach to the pathway to Target 1, by facilitating an objective assessment of managed forestlands,” said Paul Trianosky, Chief Conservation Officer at SFI. “Validating and confirming the role of sustainable forest management, including those forests certified to the SFI Forest Management Standard, will help meet Canada’s conservation goals, and make clear the contributory value of managed forests at a large scale.”

The FTSE100 sustainable packaging leader has today announced the appointment of Wouter van Tol as Head of Sustainability and Government Affairs. Reporting to Greg Dawson, Director of Corporate Affairs, van Tol will spearhead sustainability and public affairs across the DS Smith Group including its packaging, paper and recycling divisions. Wouter van Tol joins DS Smith after three years as Global Head of Corporate Responsibility at food packaging company Huhtamaki, where he was responsible for developing and delivering its Packaging for Good sustainability strategy. An industry heavyweight with over two decades of experience, van Tol previously held senior positions in Procter & Gamble, Nestlé and Samsung.