Myths about the sustainability of the North American paper industry and its products are common media fodder in today’s world of sensationalized, headline-driven journalism. This time it was the turn of Popular Science to weave together a collection of standard anti-paper tropes into your “Modern paper use is wildly unsustainable” article.
Shouldn’t a publication dedicated to reporting on science resist the easy narrative, hold up a submission to the illuminating glow of real authoritative data and pick up the phone to ask industry scientists or a school of forestry if any of what the authors claim makes sense?
After all, paper is not only the most recycled material in North America. It is a material whose industry grows and regrows its own feedstock (wood fiber), derives most of the power to drive its processes from carbon neutral biofuel, and recycles more than 95% of the chemicals it uses to turn trees into pulp. This is not “wildly unsustainable.” This is a description of some of the world’s most sustainable products.
much more at source: https://twosidesna.org/US/two-sides-responds-to-misleading-claims-about-the-sustainability-of-paper-products-in-popular-science/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TSNA%20Two%20Sides%20Responds%20to%20Misleading%20Claims%20about%20the%20Sustainability%20of%20Paper%20Products%20in%20Popular%20Science&utm_content=TSNA%20Two%20Sides%20Responds%20to%20Misleading%20Claims%20about%20the%20Sustainability%20of%20Paper%20Products%20in%20Popular%20Science+CID_0914a023d420fff2fd6f95100d31dcc4&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=READ%20MORE
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Kruger Inc., one of the most diversified privately owned manufacturing companies in North America, secured the EcoVadis 2025 Gold Medal. This international ranking assesses the social and environmental responsibility (SER) performance of companies. With its best result to date (81%), Kruger finished in the top 5% of the best-rated organizations out of 150,000 assessed worldwide over the past 12 months.
The EcoVadis Gold Medal marks a significant milestone for Kruger, which is continuing on its ambitious path to continuous improvement in order to optimize its practices and reduce its environmental footprint at each stage of its value chain.
EcoVadis is one of the world’s leading providers of SER ratings, business intelligence, and collaborative performance improvement tools for supply chains. Its annual assessment covers four key areas: environmental protection, respect of human and labour rights, ethics, and responsible procurement.
The American Forest & Paper Association’s (AF&PA) 2014 Community Access Survey shows that overall consumer access to community paper and paperboard recycling in the U.S. reached 96 percent, up from 87 percent in 2010. The survey evaluated 12 separate grades of paper and paperboard, which all showed access increases. Access for 9 of the 12 grades is now at or above 90 percent.
The executive summary of the survey is available at: http://paperrecycles.org/sustainability/2014-af-pa-community-access-survey
“Access to paper recycling in the U.S. continues to increase – which helps to recover valuable resources, extend the useful life of fiber and make new products,” said AF&PA President and CEO Donna Harman. “In addition, we’re pleased to see significant increases in access to recycling for different paper grades.”
The survey results also showed that single-stream recovery has grown in use. Eighty percent of Americans now have access to single-stream collection, a rise from 65 percent in 2010.
As U.S. consumers become increasingly aware of the environmental impacts of the products they use every day, there remains a wide gap between perception and reality when it comes to the sustainability of paper products – but the gap has narrowed over the past two years. Overall, 44% of consumers believe paper products are bad for the environment, down from 48% in 2021.This according to a new survey commissioned by Two Sides North America and conducted by global research firm Toluna. “It’s great to see improvement in consumer attitudes about paper and the environment, but we need to accelerate this trend if paper products are to remain competitive in an ever-changing marketplace,” says Two Sides North America President Kathi Rowzie.