U.S. Paper and Wood Products Manufacturers Show Significant Progress Toward Sustainability Goals

Submitted: The Two Sides Team July 15, 2014

American Forest & Paper Association releases biennial sustainability report

WASHINGTON, D.C., JULY 15, 2014 / PR Newswire / — The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) today released its 2014 Sustainability Report, which exhibits the U.S. pulp, paper, packaging and wood products industry’s significant contributions to sustainability across the value chain, including measurable progress toward achieving its Better Practices, Better Planet 2020 sustainability goals.

The full report is available for download on AF&PA’s website at http://bit.ly/1qAr7NZ.

“We are proud to represent member companies who deliver on their sustainability commitments when manufacturing reusable and recyclable products that people across the country and around the world rely on every day,” said AF&PA President and CEO Donna Harman.

“Through sustainable business practices, we are able to guarantee that both our industry’s products and the renewable resources used to make them will be plentiful, enabling them to improve quality of life for this generation and those to come,” added John Williams, president and CEO of Domtar and chairman of the AF&PA Board of Directors.

The Better Practices, Better Planet 2020 sustainability initiative includes one of the most extensive collections of quantifiable sustainability goals for a major U.S. manufacturing industry, focusing on increasing paper recovery for recycling, improving energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting sustainable forestry practices, improving worker safety, and reducing water use.

2014 Sustainability Report highlights:

Over 63 percent of paper consumed in the U.S. has been recovered for recycling for each of the past five years, making paper the most recycled material in the nation.
Members have nearly reached the Better Practices goal to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent.
Pulp and paper mills self-generate most of their energy needs, and most of that energy is renewable.
The forest products industry is the second largest producer of combined heat and power electricity in the manufacturing sector.
AF&PA-supported efforts to curb illegal logging have gained traction around the world.

For more information about AF&PA, visit afandpa.org.