At Domtar, our position as a forest products industry leader is rooted in our ability to focus on sustainability across our manufacturing processes. That’s apparent in the great progress we’ve made toward achieving our 2020 sustainability goals, especially through our waste-reduction initiatives. Much like using every part of a tree is a responsible forestry practice, the beneficial reuse of manufacturing byproducts is a key component of sustainable operations. In fact, 74 percent of our pulp and paper mills’ manufacturing byproducts now are beneficially reused instead of being thrown away. That’s much higher than our industry’s 47 percent average reuse rate. Since 2013 alone, our pulp and paper mills have reduced the amount of waste sent to landfills by 36 percent. Click Read More below for additional information.

A world without waste holds untold benefits for our environment and contributes to sustained protection of the world’s precious natural resources. But this concept, as embodied by the principles of a circular economy, can also unleash tremendous opportunity for growth and innovation that experts say will deliver $4.5 trillion in new economic potential by 2030. That’s because, as noted by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, “a circular economy is restorative and regenerative by design, and aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value at all times.” To get there, companies are pushing to achieve greater productivity and eliminate inefficiencies, and in doing so, realizing the economic reward that comes from these practices.

After the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors secured a preliminary injunction in February, groups representing the paper industry, grocers and other businesses want in. The challenges to Oregon’s program come as Circular Action Alliance, the producer responsibility organization in the state, is already re-investing in recycling enhancements. Following NAW’s preliminary injunction, CAA had clarified that everything else was moving forward as planned. Oregon launched its first-in-the-nation packaging EPR program last year and CAA began collecting producer fees. According to a mid-February update from CAA, the organization had already contributed $19.5 million to support recycling facilities, distributed $3.1 million to communities for contamination reduction programs, and ordered more than 50,000 recycling carts and 14 trucks for communities that lacked access to recycling services, among other actions.