SFPNA Sustainability Report 2012: Recycled Fiber

All of SFPNA’s coated fine papers are recyclable, and we are strong proponents of educational outreach regarding the recovery of paper.

Avoiding Prescriptive PoliciesWe do not believe that the use of recovered fiber is a one-size-fits-all solution and we promote a practice of “best use” for recycled fiber in paper products. Ultimately, the use of recycled fiber should be based on an evaluation of both economic and environmental consequences. Prescriptive policies or guidelines that require maximizing recycled fiber content or that control the flow of fiber markets without taking all factors into consideration should be avoided.

回收教育和外展When it comes to recycling rates, no basic material has a better track record than paper. In 2011, our industry reached an all-time high paper recovery rate of 66.8 percent, whereas EPA data show less than ten percent of plastics are recovered. SFPNA personnel are directly involved in helping to shape recycling outreach programs such as the partnership between Kaleidoscope and the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) aimed at educating elementary school students. Our membership also helps to support the AF&PA annual Recycling Awards as well as the nationwide college campus recycling competition, Recyclemania. Ongoing efforts such as these have set our industry on course to achieve the goal of recovering more than 70 percent of the paper consumed in the US by the year 2020.

While some segments of our industry (e.g., corrugated containers) are recovered at extremely high levels, printing and writing grades tend to lag behind. Therefore, we are especially focused on educating stakeholders about the recyclability of printing papers. We extend outreach to these groups through a variety of channels including social media, local community engagement efforts, presentations and printed educational pieces such as oureQ Journals.

Promoting Best Use of Recycled FiberContrary to popular belief, industry research shows that adding recycled fiber to certain grades of paper can actually raise the carbon footprint. Because most of the energy used to process recycled fiber is purchased from the power grid, many deinking mills have higher carbon emissions than Sappi’s integrated pulp mills that carefully manage energy use from renewable sources.

在政策和实践中，SFPNA敦促客户回收各种论文。我们的目标是确保将回收的纤维得到最好的利用 - 在正确的位置以及基于评估和平衡经济和环境因素的正确等级。最终，回收纤维应在其置换具有较高碳足迹的纤维的产品中使用。此外，全球纤维市场是动态而复杂的。海外需求继续增长，并为回收论文创造高价值。我们不支持将控制或限制这些产品的公平市场的政策。

要阅读完整报告，请从我们的网站链接下载PDF：2012 Sustainability Report.