How Paper Companies Are Doing Their Part

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, recycling paper, and responsible harvesting and planting of forests… no, it’s not Greenpeace making these changes, it’s the North American Paper Industry.

The wood and paper industries more than make up for their resource harvesting by managing and replanting millions of tree seedlings every day. In fact, according to the American Forest and Paper Association (AFPA), there is more forest land in America today than there was in 1900.

Today’s paper manufacturers are producing beautiful writing, text and cover paper stocks from forests that are being replanted. Some manufacturers, such as Mohawk Fine Papers Inc., Monadnock Paper Mills, Sappi Fine Paper North America, Neenah Paper Inc., NewPage and others are working to develop credible production policies that meet the standards of environmental organizations’ certifications which promote the responsible use of the earth’s resources.

According to the AFPA, the North American paper industry has reduced its footprint in the following ways:

• Between 2000 and 2004, reduced emissions by 16%, and is committed to reducing emissions by an additional 12% by 2012.
• Recovered 53.4% or 53.5 million tons of paper from landfills.
• Operate under third party / certified sustainable guidelines from the following organizations and/or initiatives: American Tree Farm, Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
• Rely on recovered paper – approximately 80% of mills do so and approximately one-third rely on recovered paper exclusively.
• Phased out the use of elemental chlorine to bleach pulp.

If you want to incorporate eco-friendly printing practices into your marketing projects, please let Ferrante & Associates know. We’ll work with you to ensure your projects use recycled papers and environmentally friendly inks – while ensuring the highest quality and production standards.