Paper is one of the few truly sustainable products

PAPER IS MADE FROM WOOD, A NATURAL RESOURCE THAT IS RENEWABLE, RECYCLABLE AND CAN BE MANAGED SUSTAINABLY.

The U.S. Lacey Act prohibits the import or trade of illegal timber and requires companies to assess and manage the risk of introducing illegal wood products into their supply chains.

World Resources Institute, 2018

• The paper industry adheres to respected third-party certification standards to ensure the paper you buy comes from a sustainable forest source. These include the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®), Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®), American Tree Farm System (ATFS) and Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification™ (PEFC™) standards.¹

• Credible certification contributes to a more sustainable timber products industry by helping create market conditions that support forest conservation. Such conditions also provide economic and social benefits for local communities, workers and the environment.²

• Globally, about 11% of the world’s forests are certified – the majority of which are in North America.³

• Nearly half of Canada’s forests are certified to an independent sustainable forest management standard, In fact, 37% of all certified forests worldwide are in Canada, the largest area of any country.⁴

• In North America, paper is recycled more than any other commodity and the benefits include: reducing greenhouse gas emissions of methane released when paper decomposes in landfills [methane has a global warming potential 25 times higher than carbon dioxide], extending the supply of wood fiber, reducing the amount of energy needed to produce some paper products and saving considerable landfill space.⁵ These features, combined with the North American paper industry’s advocacy of responsible forestry practices, certification, the use of renewable biomass energy and advances in efficient papermaking technology make paper one of the most sustainable products we use.

• About 40% of the fiber used in papermaking in the U. S. is obtained through recycling.⁶ The rest comes from wood that is typically obtained through thinning of forest stands being grown to larger diameters to provide raw material for lumber and plywood, patch clearcutting of smaller diameter trees managed for pulp production, and collection of chips and sawdust produced as by-products in the production of lumber.⁷

Please refer to our Two Sides Fact Sheets for more information

¹ American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), 2018
² World Wildlife Fund, 2020
³ Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade, 2019
⁴ Certification Canada, 2019
⁵ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2018
⁶ AF&PA, 2020
⁷ Dovetail Partners, 2016