Policy
How can government policy promote environmentally friendly paper?
Can institutions and companies also use policy to promote environmentally friendly paper?
Along with environmentally preferable purchasing policies, what else can government do?
The pulp and paper industry is one of the major sources of pollution in the United States in terms of greenhouse emissions and toxic releases. What role can government play in reducing these pollutants?
How can government policy promote environmentally friendly paper?
Government at all levels – local, state, and federal-- can encourage industry to produce paper with recycled content, without chlorine, and with wood fiber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), by requiring their agencies and offices to purchase paper with those characteristics. Setting environmental standards for the purchase of paper or other products is known as “environmentally preferable purchasing policy (EPP).” By requiring high standards, government is effectively creating a market for these environmentally friendly products. Industry can then make the necessary investments to produce environmentally friendly paper to meet this demand.
Along with environmental purchasing requirements, government can require that its offices and agencies use double-sided printing and copying, recycle discarded paper, and replace disposable paper products in cafeterias and kitchens with reusable products such as washable plates and cups.
The United States Federal Government’s Executive Order 13423 of 2007 requires that federal agencies purchase paper with at least 30% post-consumer fiber content. Sixteen states have followed this 30% standard, using guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (rather than the executive order itself) as the criteria for their paper procurement. The EPA standard is set at 30% for most paper products.[1] If consistent standards were adopted across the nation, the market for recycled paper would flourish, resulting in lower costs, which in turn would encourage other entities to purchase recycled paper as well.
Can institutions and companies also use policy to promote environmentally friendly paper?
Yes. Office supply businesses like Staples and FedEx Kinko’s have committed to sourcing significant portions of their fiber from FSC certified wood fiber and to achieving a high level of recycled content for their products. Companies like Bank of America have adopted policies that minimize the use of paper by using electronic communication for reports and memos, by buying lighter weight paper, and by utilizing double sided printing and copying. In the process, Bank of America has saved an estimated $10 million. Click here to learn more about what you can do help your workplace adopt strong environmental paper policies and more about other companies setting high environmental standards for their paper purchasing and use.
Along with environmentally preferable purchasing policies, what else can government do?
Government can set policies that promote the reduction of paper in packaging and require that paper packaging is recycled. In 1991, Germany passed the Ordinance on the Avoidance of Packaging Waste, a law that made industry responsible for its packages after consumers discarded them, including the costs of collecting, sorting, and recycling the packages. In Germany, Garbage, and the Green Dot: Challenging the Throwaway Society, Bette Fishbein discusses the dynamics of this policy. By making industry responsible for discarded packages, industry has an incentive to design packaging that is lighter, smaller, and more recyclable, and to remove packaging altogether when feasible. As she states in The Secret Life of Paper video, as soon as this law was passed, “secondary packages were dropped, for example the box on the toothpaste tube. If you went to the supermarket, you would see the box with the tubes on the shelves without the outer box.”
One of the innovations of this legislation is the flexibility it offers industry. While industry is made responsible for discarded packages, companies are able to achieve economies of scale by using a third party, private company that collects and recycles packaging.[2]
Following the German successes, the European Union adopted similar legislation in 1994, known as the Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste, and added amendments to this legislation in 2004 and 2005.[3]
The pulp and paper industry is one of the major sources of pollution in the United States in terms of greenhouse emissions and toxic releases. What role can government play in reducing these pollutants?
Among manufacturing industries, the pulp and paper industry is the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the United States.[4] As the United States government moves toward adopting reduction targets for greenhouse gases, either through carbon taxes or a cap-and-trade approach, the pulp and paper industry will have to become more energy efficient, switch to renewable sources of energy, and/or purchase emission credits (like Mohawk Fine Paper, Inc.) depending on what type of system is adopted. Such national/international climate policies would significantly reduce the greenhouse emissions from the pulp and paper industry.
In addition to greenhouse emissions, the pulp and paper industry annually releases about 212 million tons of hazardous substances into the air and water.[5] The United States Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, and Cluster Rules have significantly reduced the pollution from pulp and paper mills.[6] For example, in the late 1990s, the U.S. Cluster Rule required that the industry stop using elemental chlorine. Thus, all mills in the U.S. are now “elemental chlorine free.” However, chlorine dioxide is often still used, which releases significant amounts of dioxin and other pollutants. The U.S. government could amend the above listed acts and require even greater reductions of pollutants.
[1] United States EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/procure/products.htm#paper (July 31, 2008).
[2] Duales System Deutschland GmbH. http://www.gruener-punkt.de/index.php?id=96&L=1 (July 31, 2008).
[3] U.S. EPA. Treaties and Legislation: EU Packaging Directives at http://www.epa.gov/oswer/international/factsheets/200610-packaging-directives.htm#1994 (July 31, 2008). .
[4] US Energy Information Agency at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/efficiency/carbon_emissions/carbon_mfg.html (July 31, 2008). .
[5] US EPA(November 2002). Pulp and Paper Industry. Chemical Releases and Transfers at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/publications/assistance/sectors/notebooks/pulppasnp2.pdf and US. EPA. (July 31, 2008). TRIExplorer at http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/.
[6] EPN (2007), State of the Paper Industry at http://www.environmentalpaper.org/stateofthepaperindustry/ (July 31, 2008).
How can government policy promote environmentally friendly paper?
Can institutions and companies also use policy to promote environmentally friendly paper?
Along with environmentally preferable purchasing policies, what else can government do?
The pulp and paper industry is one of the major sources of pollution in the United States in terms of greenhouse emissions and toxic releases. What role can government play in reducing these pollutants?
How can government policy promote environmentally friendly paper?
Government at all levels – local, state, and federal-- can encourage industry to produce paper with recycled content, without chlorine, and with wood fiber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), by requiring their agencies and offices to purchase paper with those characteristics. Setting environmental standards for the purchase of paper or other products is known as “environmentally preferable purchasing policy (EPP).” By requiring high standards, government is effectively creating a market for these environmentally friendly products. Industry can then make the necessary investments to produce environmentally friendly paper to meet this demand.
Along with environmental purchasing requirements, government can require that its offices and agencies use double-sided printing and copying, recycle discarded paper, and replace disposable paper products in cafeterias and kitchens with reusable products such as washable plates and cups.
The United States Federal Government’s Executive Order 13423 of 2007 requires that federal agencies purchase paper with at least 30% post-consumer fiber content. Sixteen states have followed this 30% standard, using guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (rather than the executive order itself) as the criteria for their paper procurement. The EPA standard is set at 30% for most paper products.[1] If consistent standards were adopted across the nation, the market for recycled paper would flourish, resulting in lower costs, which in turn would encourage other entities to purchase recycled paper as well.
Can institutions and companies also use policy to promote environmentally friendly paper?
Yes. Office supply businesses like Staples and FedEx Kinko’s have committed to sourcing significant portions of their fiber from FSC certified wood fiber and to achieving a high level of recycled content for their products. Companies like Bank of America have adopted policies that minimize the use of paper by using electronic communication for reports and memos, by buying lighter weight paper, and by utilizing double sided printing and copying. In the process, Bank of America has saved an estimated $10 million. Click here to learn more about what you can do help your workplace adopt strong environmental paper policies and more about other companies setting high environmental standards for their paper purchasing and use.
Along with environmentally preferable purchasing policies, what else can government do?
Government can set policies that promote the reduction of paper in packaging and require that paper packaging is recycled. In 1991, Germany passed the Ordinance on the Avoidance of Packaging Waste, a law that made industry responsible for its packages after consumers discarded them, including the costs of collecting, sorting, and recycling the packages. In Germany, Garbage, and the Green Dot: Challenging the Throwaway Society, Bette Fishbein discusses the dynamics of this policy. By making industry responsible for discarded packages, industry has an incentive to design packaging that is lighter, smaller, and more recyclable, and to remove packaging altogether when feasible. As she states in The Secret Life of Paper video, as soon as this law was passed, “secondary packages were dropped, for example the box on the toothpaste tube. If you went to the supermarket, you would see the box with the tubes on the shelves without the outer box.”
One of the innovations of this legislation is the flexibility it offers industry. While industry is made responsible for discarded packages, companies are able to achieve economies of scale by using a third party, private company that collects and recycles packaging.[2]
Following the German successes, the European Union adopted similar legislation in 1994, known as the Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste, and added amendments to this legislation in 2004 and 2005.[3]
The pulp and paper industry is one of the major sources of pollution in the United States in terms of greenhouse emissions and toxic releases. What role can government play in reducing these pollutants?
Among manufacturing industries, the pulp and paper industry is the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the United States.[4] As the United States government moves toward adopting reduction targets for greenhouse gases, either through carbon taxes or a cap-and-trade approach, the pulp and paper industry will have to become more energy efficient, switch to renewable sources of energy, and/or purchase emission credits (like Mohawk Fine Paper, Inc.) depending on what type of system is adopted. Such national/international climate policies would significantly reduce the greenhouse emissions from the pulp and paper industry.
In addition to greenhouse emissions, the pulp and paper industry annually releases about 212 million tons of hazardous substances into the air and water.[5] The United States Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, and Cluster Rules have significantly reduced the pollution from pulp and paper mills.[6] For example, in the late 1990s, the U.S. Cluster Rule required that the industry stop using elemental chlorine. Thus, all mills in the U.S. are now “elemental chlorine free.” However, chlorine dioxide is often still used, which releases significant amounts of dioxin and other pollutants. The U.S. government could amend the above listed acts and require even greater reductions of pollutants.
[1] United States EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/procure/products.htm#paper (July 31, 2008).
[2] Duales System Deutschland GmbH. http://www.gruener-punkt.de/index.php?id=96&L=1 (July 31, 2008).
[3] U.S. EPA. Treaties and Legislation: EU Packaging Directives at http://www.epa.gov/oswer/international/factsheets/200610-packaging-directives.htm#1994 (July 31, 2008). .
[4] US Energy Information Agency at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/efficiency/carbon_emissions/carbon_mfg.html (July 31, 2008). .
[5] US EPA(November 2002). Pulp and Paper Industry. Chemical Releases and Transfers at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/publications/assistance/sectors/notebooks/pulppasnp2.pdf and US. EPA. (July 31, 2008). TRIExplorer at http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/.
[6] EPN (2007), State of the Paper Industry at http://www.environmentalpaper.org/stateofthepaperindustry/ (July 31, 2008).