by Phil Riebel, President, Sustainable Paper Group

Sustainability expectations in the paper and paper-based packaging industry have changed quickly.

What was once a matter of high-level commitments and annual reporting has become far more operational. Procurement teams are now expected to evaluate sustainability performance across suppliers, compare impacts, and make decisions that align with corporate climate, and environmental and social governance (ESG) targets.

The challenge is not a lack of information. It’s the opposite.

The problem: too many claims, not enough clarity

Environmental and social information is widely available across the industry - but rarely in a format that allows for meaningful comparison.

Suppliers publish sustainability reports, technical data sheets, certifications, and environmental claims. Many of these are credible, but they are often presented using different methodologies, metrics, and levels of detail.

This creates a fragmented landscape where buyers struggle to answer basic questions:

· How does one mill’s performance compare to another?

· Are emissions calculated using the same boundaries?

· Is fiber sourcing being reported consistently?

Regulators are beginning to address this issue. Authorities such as the Green Claims Directive are pushing for environmental claims to be substantiated, verifiable, and comparable, rather than broad or ambiguous. At the same time, frameworks like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) are raising expectations around the consistency and auditability of sustainability data across value chains.

The direction is clear: ESG information needs to be standardized.

Why comparable performance indicators matter

Without a common set of indicators, sustainability data becomes difficult to use in practice.

Procurement teams don’t just need more data - they need data that can be compared across suppliers in a consistent way. This requires:

· aligned system boundaries (e.g., cradle-to-gate vs. cradle-to-grave)

· consistent units of measurement (e.g., kg CO?e per tonne)

· clear definitions of metrics (e.g., recycled content, energy intensity)

EPAT (Environmental Paper Assessment Tool) was developed to address this exact challenge within the pulp, paper and paper-based packaging industry. It provides a standardized sustainability scorecard that allows manufacturing facilities (i.e., mills) to report environmental performance using a consistent set of indicators and enables buyers to evaluate that data in a structured way.

In practical terms, EPAT turns complex ESG data into something procurement teams can actually work with.

History and development of EPAT

EPAT (Environmental Paper Assessment Tool) was originally developed in the early 2000s through a collaborative effort between corporate paper buyers and the pulp and paper industry. Its creation was driven by a clear need: to move beyond simplistic or single-issue environmental indicators and toward a more comprehensive, life cycle–based understanding of paper’s environmental impacts.

At the time, the industry - particularly paper buyers - were under increasing pressure from environmental NGOs to prioritize specific attributes such as recycled fiber content or certification under systems like FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). While these elements are important, they represent only a narrow subset of the broader environmental performance of paper products. Critical factors such as energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, and overall mill efficiency were often overlooked by environmentalists.

EPAT was designed to address this gap by providing a more balanced and scientifically grounded framework. From the outset, it focused on capturing a full range of life cycle environmental indicators, enabling a more accurate and holistic assessment of paper products and manufacturing facilities.

Over time, EPAT evolved significantly. What began as a structured assessment framework developed by industry stakeholders has grown into a robust, web-based platform. Today, it is used by a wide range of buyers and suppliers to report, evaluate, and compare environmental performance using standardized metrics. This evolution reflects both increasing demand for credible, comparable ESG data and the industry’s shift toward more transparent and data-driven decision-making.

Today, EPAT captures more than 35 ESG metrics, including:

· greenhouse gas emissions intensity

· energy use and energy sources

· water consumption and discharge

· fiber sourcing and certification

· environmental management practices

· health and safety, community involvement, labor policies and other ESG performance indicators.

Simplifying supplier evaluation

For buyers, one of the biggest barriers to integrating sustainability into procurement is time.

Reviewing supplier data received from buyer questionnaires or across multiple formats - PDFs, spreadsheets, certifications, and reports - is resource-intensive.

EPAT simplifies this process by:

· consolidating key environmental metrics into a single format

· aligning data across suppliers using consistent definitions

· enabling side-by-side comparison without reinterpreting inputs

This allows procurement teams to move beyond qualitative assessments and incorporate environmental performance into decision-making more directly. A tool used by mills and major buyers, EPAT is already used by a broad range of stakeholders across the paper supply chain.

Mills use EPAT to:

· communicate environmental performance in a standardized format

· respond more efficiently to customer data requests

· benchmark performance against industry norms

Buyers use EPAT to:

· compare suppliers using consistent criteria

· support sustainable procurement initiatives

· integrate environmental data into sourcing decisions

This dual adoption is critical. A tool is only effective if it works for both sides of the transaction - those providing the data and those using it.

From disclosure to decision-making

Sustainability reporting has evolved from disclosure to application.

The next phase is not about producing more reports - it is about enabling better decisions.

Tools like EPAT help bridge that gap by turning environmental information into a format that can be compared, evaluated, and acted on. For mills, that means clearer communication and stronger positioning. For buyers, it means more confident, data-driven procurement.

And for the industry as a whole, it moves sustainability from aspiration to something measurable.

For more information about EPAT and its features, visit EPAT.org or contact at [email protected].