CLARIFICATION Canadian Environmental Group Sees Progress Among Papermakers, Printers and Publishers

By: E&P Staff [Editor's note: The third paragraph has been rewritten to more accurately reflect information supplied by Markets Initiative. In the paragraph relating Canadian and U.S. newsprint use, the last sentence has been changed to read, "With more large cities and no vast boreal forest to exploit, the U.S. relies on recyclable and renewable fiber sources (old newspapers and pine plantations) more than Canada does.]

In its Trend Report 2008, Markets Initiative announced that "in spite of difficult economic conditions," the number of Canadian book publishers, newspapers, magazines and printers implementing environmentally friendly paper-purchasing policies had tripled last year, to approximately 520. The most dramatic increase came in the newspaper category, which rose from one to 151.

Positive developments have occurred in spite of paper producers having faced unprecedented mill closures and poor financial results, and "the greening of the marketplace has provided unique opportunities," wrote Executive Director Nicole Rycroft.

Founded in 1999 by Rycroft, wth earlier input from organizations concerned with forest ecosystems, Markets Initiative works with companies to accomplish a shift in demand to ecologically sustainable paper products, and to reduce overall consumption to protect ancient and endangered forests. The non-profit organization is based in Toronto and Vancouver,

Citing a summer poll, the report states that the environment led all other important issues facing Canadians last year. According to another poll, conducted for Markets Initiative, the numbers of respondents favoring publications printed on environmentally friendly paper (79%) and willing to pay extra for them (69%) were both up in 2007.

The report also found:
?95% of Canadian consumers place importance on companies' environmental policies or action plans, and look for transparent reporting of progress.
?78% of Canadians believe companies often paint themselves greener than they really are, and only 1% of consumers have very much trust in carbon-neutral claims.
?Most readers attach little credibility to editions devoted to environmental matters when those editions are not printed on environmentally friendly paper.
?A high priority is put on use of post-consumer recycled paper by 81%, using paper from sustainably managed forests by 73%, and reducing trim size and number of pages by 51%.

Citing U.S. book publishers for lagging behind their Canadian and British counterparts, the report nevertheless singles out newspaper publisher Advance Publications' Random House division as the first large U.S. book publisher to develop an environmental paper policy, in 2006, and to have steadily worked with its suppliers "to improve their environmental performance."

With 2006 demand exceeding 9.76 million metric tons in 2006, "newsprint impacts more forests than any other paper grade," according to the report, which puts newsprint's North American industry average of recycled fiber content at 30%. Though a large volume of U.S. newsprint comes from Canada, the countries' production and recycling profiles are different. With more large cities and no vast boreal forest to exploit, the U.S. relies on recyclable and renewable fiber sources (old newspapers and pine plantations) more than Canada does.

Markets Initiative does see indications that Canadian newspaper publishers, especially Transcontinental Inc., the country's largest printer, to improve their performance. Owing to its size, Transcontinental's paper-purchasing policy, announced last fall (E&P Online, Oct. 22), is viewed as a major development. The company publishes a dozen dailies, 160 nondailies and 43 magazines; its printing division handles another 75 dailies and weeklies. In its capacity as a commercial printer, the company's policy "has facilitated a number of their print clients switching to eco-papers," the report states.

Pointing to gains by the Forest Stewardship Council, the reports notes that the FSC certified its first North American 100% recycled newsprint - an "Ancient Forest Friendly" sheet produced by Atlantic Newsprint. The report further noted that since 2005, FSC-certified forest in Canada saw a five-fold increase, to 24 million hectares.

The report urges further progress in paper recovery and recycling, noting that North America lags Europe, Japan and South Korea. It also looks to production of agricultural-residue pulps in the next two to five years as a high-quality, lower-energy, lesser land-use alternative to wood-fiber pulp.

At the same time that it notes the Forest Products Association of Canada aims for carbon neutrality by 2015, the report identifies papermakers as "the most energy- and fossil-fuel-intensive industry in Canada, and the fourth largest in North America."

While the industry requires very large amounts of energy, it also is worth noting that besides burning gas rather than high-carbon coal or lignite, papermakers rely on their own wood waste and spent pulping liquor, making them 50% to 70% energy self-sufficient. In the U.S., at least, the pulp and paper industry co-generates more than half its energy needs. Still, while electricity is a byproduct of pulp and papermakers' generation of steam, production of newsprint and other groundwood papers contributes relatively little self-generated power.