Paper is sustainable and secure

Choosing for paper is responsible. Made of wood, a renewable resource, paper's main raw material is widely available and will never be depleted. During their whole life-time trees capture CO2 from the atmosphere making forest a 'carbon sink' meaning that the forests are the best mitigation for climate change.  
 
Paper meets the needs for Sustainable Materials because:
 

• Paper is made from a renewable resource wood
• The fiber for paper is sourced from sustainably managed forests
• Paper is manufactured in processes where the impact on the environment is continually reduced as proven by a recent Life Cycle Inventory study
• Paper is recyclable and can be reused as recycled fiber or energy
• Paper is biodegradable

Paper is made from a renewable resource wood

Thanks to the combination of Sustainable Forestry Management practices and a significant rate of recycling, Europe's forests are increasing every year.
 

The fiber for paper is sourced from sustainably managed forests

• Sustainable forestry management is defined as 'the stewardship and use of forests and forest land in a way and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fullfill now and in the future, relevant ecological, economical and social functions, at local, national and global levels and does not cause damage to other ecosystems'. (Source: MCPFE).
• Forestry certification is is a mechanism using a third party certification body ot ensure that forests are managed according to the internationally recognized sustainability criteria. The two main forest cerfication schemes are PEFC and FSC.

Paper is manufactured in processes where the impact on the environment is continually reduced as proven by a recent Life Cycle Inventory study

• The PaperImpact LCIA-study proved that the environmental indicators, like the Carbon Footprint of PaperImpact members had gone down with 13 % in just two years time.
• The recently published PaperImpact study that compared paper to other packaging materials showed that the environmental impacts of speciality paper are generally clearly lower than those of plastic film that is used for similar applications.  In this study average industry data for speciality papers, comprising grades such as one-side-coated papers for labels and flexible packaging, release liners and other coated and uncoated specialities, were compared to industry average data for plastic films, both PET and LDPE films in a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment.   The study results were evaluated and verified by independent industry experts from Unilever and ESU Services.

Paper is recyclable and can be reused as recycled fiber or energy

• Paper fibers can be re-used up to 6 times
• Few industries recycle as much as the paper and board industry does
• More than 60 % of the annual European paper usage is recovered for recycling

Paper is biodegradable

Average one side coated label paper biodegrades in 4 - 5 weeks, while the competing raw material plastic film can take up to 500 years to biodegrade.

Nature is very powerful: 
 
The amount of wood needed to produce pulp for 500.000 tons of paper, i.e. the entire European production of release liner base paper, is replaced during a few days of summer growth in the forests of Finland alone.