Brussels, Belgium, – International Paper, the world’s largest paper and packaging company, has produced the sixth issue of The Environmental Post, the company’s very own “Green Newspaper”, which contains in-depth, the latest news, features and facts on the latest developments at International Paper and the paper industry in general concerning the area of sustainability and the environment.

The new issue of The Environmental Post highlights International Paper’s 2020 Sustainability Goals, and its progress towards a sustainable future. So far International Paper has seen an 18% increase in third-party certified fibre volume compared to its 2010 baseline average, with the company achieving a 26% increase in certified wood supply for the past two years to its pulp and paper mills in the EMEA region. International Paper is also in the process of establishing a new goal for fibre certification, having achieved the goal of a 15% increase in its third-party certified fibre volume globally, whilst its recent membership of the WWF Global Forest and Trade Network has also underlined its commitment not to accept fibre from illegally logged forests, or those where conservation is threatened by management activities, or from endangered forests. International Paper has also begun to map its water usage at each manufacturing site, with the objective to develop site-specific plans for reducing its water footprint. A new treatment plant at the Kenitra recycling mill helped to reduce water usage by 41% in 2012, whilst International Paper has also revealed that over 90% of the water used in the manufacture of its products was returned to local sources after treatment.

Also included within The Environmental Post are news items regarding the EU Timber Regulations, which became applicable from 3 March 2013, in order to prevent sales of illegal timber and timber products in the internal EU market.

International Paper’s Kenitra Paper Mill in Morocco is also featured, having played host to representatives from the Moroccan Government and IP EMEA on 9^th April this year, to celebrate the opening of the mills new wastewater treatment plant.

The opening of International Paper’s Biomass Exhibit in Brussels on 5^th June is also covered, where Polish Minister for the Environment Marcin Korolec joined IP EMEA President Maximo Pacheco on the Solidarnosc Esplanade of the European Parliament to officially open “The Plantation”, an installation of Poplar trees. The Plantation was also accompanied by an interactive exhibition highlighting International Paper’s state-of-the-art wood biomass plantation strategy in Poland.

Two recent local initiatives in Poland and Russia are also highlighted, where in Poland over 30 employees from the Krakow office planted 55 trees, which were a mixture of sour cherry, apple and poplar trees, as part of an event to improve air quality in Krakow. In Russia IP employees joined with local authorities to mark Reforestation Day by planting trees in the Tikhvin District, not far from St. Petersburg. International Paper aims to plant more than two million seedlings in Russia in 2013, or three trees for every single one it harvests.

In Kwidzyn, the X-Press Service is helping to reduce waste and respond faster to customer requirements as part of the changing factors in the consumer packaging industry, by enabling packaging converters to optimize their small printing jobs and fill orders quickly. The X-Press Service allows converters to order as little as one tonne of cardboard, with delivery lead-time just six days, (plus transit time). 

Other recent significant achievements by International Paper are also covered. Not least being the No. 1 company in the Forest and Paper Products sector in Fortune Magazine’s annual, “America’s Most Admired Companies” Report. This is the tenth time in the last eleven years that International Paper has topped the list.

For the seventh year running International Paper was also named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by The Ethisphere Institute.

And finally, International Paper was also one of just 20 companies, and the only forest products company, to receive a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Climate Leadership Award.

To receive a hard copy version of The Environmental Post, please contact [email protected]