The UK’s papermaking industry has smashed its energy-saving targets for the two-year period from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016. All 45 of the UK’s paper mills take part in the voluntary Climate Change Agreement (CCA) scheme, launched in 2001, which gifts mills partial relief from the Climate Change Levy (CCL) tax in response for them delivering proven energy efficiency improvements. The paper sector was one of the first to agree to the CCA and by 2006 all mills had signed up. For the two-year period in question, the sector’s agreed target was to deliver a 7.1% improvement on 2008’s figure, and it actually improved by just shy of 10% (9.7%). Performance is defined in terms of a specific set of energy efficiency measurements mostly related to the use of electricity. Click Read More below for more of the story.

Amazon plans to eliminate plastic in its mailer bags as part of an effort to cut down on waste, decarbonize and improve overall sustainability, according to the company’s 2022 sustainability report released this week. It’s also boosting attention to packaging lightweighting and elimination. The company is “phasing out padded bags containing plastics in favor of recyclable alternatives,” the report says. Some of the bags are solely made of plastic while others are a blend of plastic and paper; the mixed materials can present recycling challenges. In the U.S. and Canada last year, the company replaced 99% of padded bags made from a mix of plastic and paper with paper-padded bags that the company says are recyclable.

“From his first days in office, President Trump demonstrated support for U.S. manufacturing by directing his Administration to expedite permits for modernizing or constructing efficient and globally competitive manufacturing facilities and to reduce unwarranted regulatory burdens. We strongly support the continuation of these efforts, including regulatory certainty for our industry’s sustainable use of bioenergy and systemic regulatory reforms to ensure government regulation does more good than harm. Moreover, the pulp and paper industry has made consistent voluntary progress in improving our energy efficiency by more than 10 percent and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 20 percent since 2005 and has achieved a record 68.1 percent paper recovery for recycling. We applaud sustainable regulation that promotes both economic and environmental progress for our nation.” Click Read More below for additional information.