PAPER-BASED PACKAGING AND THE ENVIRONMENT This is a generic factsheet on paper-based packaging as a whole. For more specific information on different packaging grades go to Boxes, Bags and Cartons
 Paper Packaging 101 The primary source for information on paper-based packaging and the environment is an easy-to-read 24-page brochure published by PPEC in early 1994 — Facts About Paper-Based Packaging (also available in French). This examines why packaging exists and how it changes over time, and looks at the paper fibre resource, what paper-based packaging is made from, the types of paper packaging, where it's made and where it ends up (almost 70% was re-used or recycled in 1996). Facts About Paper-Based Packaging can be sourced at Strategis Canada.  Made from a renewable resource Paper packaging is the only packaging material that's made from a renewable resource. Canada's commercial forest area, some 80% of which is controlled by the provinces, is replanted or allowed to naturally regenerate each year. The provinces closely regulate forest use to ensure a sustainable resource, taking into consideration losses due to forest fires, insect infestation, disease, as well as setting harvesting limits. The latest government figures indicate the paper industry as a whole (not just the packaging sector) harvested only 52% of the hardwoods and 93% of the softwoods the provinces said was sustainable levels. In addition, Canada is the first country in the world to have a national sustainable forest management standard in place. The standards, recently approved by the Canadian Standards Council after multi-stakeholder negotiation, are based on internationally recognized criteria designed to link in with the ISO 14000 environmental standards currently being developed. One of the unfortunate myths about paper-based packaging is that the industry cuts down trees every time it needs to make a box, bag or carton. This is not even close to the truth. Just over 10% of all paper-based packaging made for Canadians is actually made from freshly-cut logs. Just under 90% is made from recycled paper and board and/or chips, shavings and sawdust left over from logging and wood processing operations.  High recycled content The average recycled content of Canadian-made packaging shipped domestically reached 63% in 2000. This compares with 45% just twelve years ago and indicates a steady trend towards higher recycled content in paper-based packaging.  Widely recovered Almost 70% of all paper-based packaging used in Canada in 1996 was re-used or recycled, according to a National Packaging Survey commissioned by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME). There is considerable re-use of corrugated boxes in industrial applications (re-trippers) but the majority of paper packaging is recycled. Indeed, Canadians will never be able to supply enough old corrugated to meet the demand: some 500,000 tonnes is imported from the U.S. every year. The curbside and depot collection of old boxboard (already mostly 100% recycled content) was pioneered by PPEC recycling mills in Ontario in 1990/1991 and is now widespread. This is a major achievement of which brandowners, recycling mills and participating municipalities can be justifiably proud. Ontario's pioneering efforts have been replicated in other provinces and in the United States. Other environmental information The paper industry has reduced its fossil fuel consumption by 20% between 1990 and 1994 — shifting to waste wood and biomass. No ozone-depleting substances are used in production. Over 97% of inks used for printing are water-based and non-toxic. The industry has completed a $5-billion pollution abatement program which has effectively eliminated dioxins and furans and sharply reduced other pollutants in the waste stream of its facilities. In fact it recently announced an $89-million project to develop paper mills that generate virtually no effluent — closed-cycle technologies which will keep it in the forefront of environmental technology. The Paper and Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC) is a national umbrella group representing both packaging mills and packaging converters on environmental issues. Home