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73 industry leaders spanning almost 20 industrial sectors presented ‘the Antwerp Declaration for a European Industrial Deal’ to Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo and Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. The declaration underlines the commitment of industry to Europe and its transformation and outlines urgent industry needs to make Europe competitive, resilient, and sustainable in the face of dire economic conditions.

During a European Industry Summit held on the site of BASF in Antwerp, leaders from basic industry sectors, representing 7.8 million workers in Europe - including Cepi Chair and vice-Chair, Marco Eikelenboom  and Ilkka Hämälä, as well as the Chair COBELPA Pierre Macharis, joined forces with European trade unions and European leaders to address pressing concerns regarding Europe's industrial landscape. The ‘Antwerp Declaration’, supported by a wide range of sectors, emphasises the critical importance of clarity, predictability, and confidence in Europe's industrial policy.

cepiThe declaration outlines 10 concrete actions, including integrating the EU Industrial Deal into the broader European Strategic Agenda, streamlining legislation, and simplifying the State Aid framework. It calls to transform Europe into a global leader in providing abundant and affordable low-carbon energy through strategic partnerships and robust infrastructure, alongside a stronger support for EU projects. It emphasises the need to ensure raw material self-sufficiency, foster demand for sustainable products, and nurture innovation. Europe’s Single Market is also highlighted as an asset to be leveraged and revived, along with establishing a new spirit of law-making that incentivises investments and a cohesive internal structure for effective policy implementation.

Signatories of the Declaration include representatives from diverse sectors ranging from chemicals, pharmaceuticals, paper, steel, mining, aluminium, glass, zinc, metals, textiles, refineries, cement, lime, fertilisers, ceramics, industrial gases and biotech.

‘The Antwerp Declaration’ is an urgent call to revitalise Europe's industrial landscape, strengthening basic industry sectors, ensuring their competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience amid shifting geopolitics. And it underlines industry’s willingness to contribute to a stronger Europe. Only with a strong industrial fabric and a strengthened social dialogue in Europe can we ensure that the green transition is a just transition. The Declaration signifies a collaborative effort to tackle challenges and lays the groundwork for a reboot of industrial investment in Europe, marking the onset of the implementation of the European Green Deal.

Read the full Antwerp Declaration for a European Industrial Deal www.antwerp-declaration.eu 

About Cepi :
Cepi is the European association representing the paper industry. We offer a wide range of renewable and recyclable wood-based fibre solutions to EU citizens: from packaging to textile, hygiene and tissue products, printing and graphic papers as well as speciality papers, but also bio-chemicals for food and pharmaceuticals, bio-composites and bioenergy. We are a responsible industry: 85% of our raw materials are sourced from within the European Union, 92% of the water we use is returned in good condition to the environment. We are the world champion in recycling at the rate of 71.4%. At the forefront of the decarbonisation and industrial transformation of our economy, we embrace digitalisation and bring 25 billion value addition to the European economy and €5 billion investments annually. Through its 19 national associations, Cepi gathers 500 companies operating 895 mills across Europe and directly employing more than 180,000 people.

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A recent collaboration between associations representing the paper manufacturing and heat pump sectors, Cepi and EHPA, has resulted in innovation which could produce energy savings of 50% in paper manufacturing. It could also be key in decarbonising one of Europe’s energy-intensive sectors. But EU regulators need to speed up incentives for affordable clean energy.

Already today, heat pumps are enabling energy savings for many industries. They provide about 10% of final industrial energy demand in Europe, and help to lower industrial emissions across many sectors. A recent development is that commercially available large heat pumps and steam compressors can now heat up to 200°C, meeting the pulp and paper industry’s needs. The innovation has been encouraged by exchanges between both industries at European level.

cepi logoA joint working group between members of the European paper and heat pump industries calculated potential energy savings in paper drying of more than 50%, and a joint Cepi-EHPA paper detailing how heat pumps could be integrated into paper mills has now been published.

The partnership between EHPA and Cepi tells the story of how collaboration can result in innovation breakthroughs, with real decarbonisation impacts. This is the purpose of Cepi’s Energy Efficiency Solutions Forum (EESF), hosting the joint working group, where front-running companies can exchange and learn from each other’s efforts to implement cutting edge technologies. The format of the EESF is frequently hailed as a model for other industries’ collaborative decarbonisation efforts.

Whether or not heat pumps can be rapidly deployed in paper mills across Europe now depends on the regulatory incentives that national government and EU Institutions can provide for electrifying the sector, which will require large amounts of affordable clean energy to meet the challenges set in the recently announced EU Green Deal Industry Plan.

Quotes

“The progressive phase-out of the fossil fuel alternative in industrial applications will be essential to building a business case. It will also be driven by high energy costs and the increasing CO2 price where clean energy clearly offers a beneficial solution.”

Thomas Nowak Secretary General EHPA (European Heat Pump Association)

“When Cepi launched the Energy Efficiency Solutions Forum exactly three years ago, heat pumps were investigated but were not yet reaching high enough temperatures. Through the candid collaboration between both sectorial associations, the technology now matches our needs. It will be an important building block in reducing the energy needs in the paper industry.”

“The industry will continue doing its part in reducing energy consumption and heat pumps can play an important role in that. Combined with access to affordable fossil-free energy heat pumps will allow for a full transition towards a decarbonised and circular economy based on bio-products.”

Jori Ringman, Director General – Cepi (Confederation of the European Paper Industries)

About Cepi :

Cepi is the European association representing the paper industry. We offer a wide range of renewable and recyclable wood-based fibre solutions to EU citizens: from packaging to textile, hygiene and tissue products, printing and graphic papers as well as speciality papers, but also bio-chemicals for food and pharmaceuticals, bio-composites and bioenergy. We are a responsible industry: 85% of our raw materials are sourced from within the European Union, 92% of the water we use is returned in good condition to the environment. We are the world champion in recycling at the rate of 71.4%. At the forefront of the decarbonisation and industrial transformation of our economy, we embrace digitalisation and bring 21 billion value addition to the European economy and €4.5 billion investments annually. Through its 18 national associations, Cepi gathers 490 companies operating 885 mills across Europe and directly employing more than 179,000 people.

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The European Commission released today the Winter Preparedness Package. The measures outlined in the package respond to the intertwined needs of European citizens and industry, in the face of a deteriorating situation regarding energy supplies. They also introduce a greater level of uncertainty, requiring belated changes to emergency plans previously developed by Member States.

The three documents presented today aim to protect the EU citizens, as well as jobs and the economy as a whole from the effects of the disruption in Russian gas supplies. The pulp and paper industry represented by Cepi plays a fundamental role as a provider of critical products. As its manufacturing partly depends on gas, possible disruptions in the industry’s gas supply would affect the entire logistics of the EU, availability of paper packaging for food and pharmaceuticals, as well as essential hygiene products. In many places, stopping the provision of gas to paper mills would also mean less heat available to district heating networks supplying thousands of people. Moreover, recycling operations in the paper industry are almost entirely based on natural gas. Restricted gas supply would potentially disrupt related waste management operations and Europe’s leading transport packaging value chain supplies, which rely to a high degree on recycled content.

2021 07 09 110047The onus is now on governments to adapt their national emergency plans by end of September in line with the guidance provided by the EU Commission, and allow for a temporary fuel switch where possible. This should include making full use of the flexibility offered by the EU Commission regarding the application of the Industrial Emission Directive. The new communication part of the package clearly states that gas restrictions and rationing are only to be used as a last resort. But an accompanying legislative proposal also released today already contains provisions to enforce such measures, including via mandatory consumption cuts. This creates uncertainty, to which adds the new update of national emergency plans. These already existing plans had until now formed the basis for the industry’s own projections and preparedness plans.

By making full use of the tools offered by the EU Commission, national governments now have a role to play in mitigating the pressures on gas markets before mandatory cuts need to be enforced. But what their reactions would be in case severe gas disruptions were to happen is now unclear. To lower natural gas consumption, Cepi recommends starting curtailment from low-efficiency installations producing electricity or heat only. Combined heat and power generation, also known as CHP or cogeneration and dominant in the pulp and paper industry, uses natural gas in a highly energy efficient manner and is also the most climate-friendly choice. To ensure continuity in the manufacturing of essential products, it is important that Member States also consider entire value chains in their response to the energy crisis.

Finally, national governments must ensure that critical industries, such as pulp and paper, are able to renew gas contracts towards the end of the year at an affordable price. The pulp and paper industry stands ready to voluntarily support national actions outlined by the European Commission, and the market-based solutions proposed, to maintain stable and predictable energy supply.

Quotes

“We call on the national governments to swiftly implement measures ensuring that our industry can keep delivering essential goods in times of crisis. By prioritising the pulp and paper industry, Member States can not only secure the well-being of EU citizens now, but also strengthen the role of green and more energy efficient industries in the future EU economy. The paper industry is a perfect example that this is not about a choice between protecting citizens and safeguarding industrial production.”

Jori Ringman, Director General – Cepi (Confederation of the European Paper Industries)

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Representatives of the European paper value chain gathered yesterday in Brussels have pledged to recycle 76% of all paper consumed by 2030. The commitment was taken during the 8th edition of the European Paper Recycling Awards which saw two projects, breaking new ground for how far paper recycling can go, receiving the highest distinction in the European paper recycling community. The video recording of the event is available online.

The new, ambitious recycling rate of 76%, calculated by dividing the recycling of used paper by the total paper and board consumption, should be reached by the year 2030. It represents a best-in-class performance both at global level and across material industries, as paper and board is the most recycled material in Europe.

2011 08 24 101336The commitment is laid out in the new European Declaration on Paper Recycling 2021-2030 published today. The document sets out measures to optimise the management of paper at every step of a continuous recycling loop. This entails a variety of operations, from paper and board manufacturing, its conversion into products and prints, through to its collection, sorting, and recycling. Each step in the process is a distinct industrial sector with only some degree of horizontal integration, making cooperation a must to reach the ambitious recycling target.

Download the European Declaration on Paper Recycling 2021-2030.

The industries co-signing the declaration state however that several enabling conditions from EU and local authorities need to be met. Including to limit the use of paper waste for energy recovery purposes and to ensure that paper is separately collected to preserve the quality of the material.

Separate paper collection is also a prerequisite for higher levels of recycling and needs to be further promoted. However, the paper value chain is also pushing boundaries for what additional products could be recycled, and how to access paper waste which is not finding its way to separate collection. The European Paper Recycling Award winning projects tackle both these challenges. EnEWA, a research and development project financed by the German Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, is focusing on the optimisation of sorting, cleaning and recycling paper even when it is mixed with other residual household or commercial waste. Awarded in the “information and education” category, the CELAB project is a cross-industry initiative to recycle self-adhesive labels.

Quotes

“The projects or campaigns competing for the awards are all game changers in the way we recycle paper in Europe. They will contribute to achieving our ambitious goal of a 76% paper recycling rate by 2030. This is an ambitious target and every piece of paper and board bringing us closer to it counts!”

Annick Carpentier - Chair EPRC (European Paper Recycling Council)

“The recycling rates we have already reached put paper and board as industry frontrunners. Both ongoing initiatives and planned steps will allow us to close the circular economy loop even further. The innovative projects presented yesterday at the EPRC Awards are timely examples of what it will take to get there.” 

Ulrich Leberle - Secretary EPRC (European Paper Recycling Council)

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A Regulation on nature restoration has now been tabled by the EU Commission, the first European legislation addressing biodiversity in three decades. Parts of the proposed regulation would be relevant to the management of forests. Cepi, the Confederation of European Pulp and Paper Industries, continues to support the health and resilience of ecosystems, although a renewed European effort would have to be focused, efficient and inclusive.

The Commission proposal includes sweeping targets, with all ecosystems in need of restoration being covered by 2050 and an “increasing trend” of key indicators to be achieved in all forest ecosystems. But it does not clarify which actors will ultimately bear the responsibility and cost for the implementation of restoration measures which will require considerable human and financial resources (up to 54 billion euros according to the Commission). Cepi considers that restoration should first be targeted at areas where its benefits for biodiversity are maximised in order to be efficient. For example, in those already designated in the Natura 2000 network, or in areas affected by natural disturbances such as fires and insects.

2021 07 09 110047What restoration would mean in areas that are not currently protected also is not yet well defined in the Commission’s proposal and its impact on the economic functions of the forests would need to be thoroughly assessed. The Commission’s own preliminary assessment recognises that “opportunity costs could stem from decreased biomass harvests” but does not go further in integrating these costs into its models. The decision on criteria determining a habitat’s ‘satisfactory level’ of restoration will rest in the hands of Member States through National Restoration Plans. In this process, Cepi calls for the consultation of all forestry stakeholders, to allow Member States to draw from extensive knowledge safeguarded by local actors, including those who depend on forests for their livelihoods.

Sustainable forest management practices as supported by Cepi are changing to meet new challenges, including in developing existing measures to protect biodiversity. This is why these practices have already improved biodiversity in many forest areas which are now unprotected. Sustainable forest management is also an efficient mean of climate change mitigation, by increasing forests’ carbon sink through the management of their age structure. It also helps forests’ climate adaptation, sometimes by introducing new species that are more resilient to new conditions. Biodiversity and climate objectives are both enhanced by human intervention, but in a changing climate neither supposes keeping forests exactly as they are today.

Other initiatives addressing biodiversity already exist. The Forest Europe process, to which EU Member states are signatories, has developed criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management which include biodiversity indicators. The Forest Europe 2020 report shows that over the years, sustainable forest management, in both protected and non-protected areas, has led to improving trends for many indicators, such as forest area, growing stock, deadwood volumes, tree species diversity, forest area designated for biodiversity conservation and forest bird species.

Quote

“The word ‘sustainability’ is originally a forestry term, coined already 300 years ago. Practicing sustainable forest management for so long has also been a journey to increase our understanding and evolve forest management. Now the best practice is to aim at a net positive impact for biodiversity through active forest management, including harvesting. In the light of the climate challenge, even protected areas are likely to require active management.”

Jori Ringman, Director General – Cepi (Confederation of the European Paper Industries)

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The European Parliament’s ENVI Committee (has voted today on a series of key pieces of the ‘Fit for 55’ package, which was proposed last year by the European Commission. The legislative package aims to cut the EU’s CO2 emissions by 55 percent until 2030. The outcome of the votes offers a few positive signs to the pulp and paper industry, as the Committee members acknowledged some of the contributions of the broader forest sector to climate action. But some legal provisions could paradoxically make it very challenging for the pulp and paper industry to decarbonise. In the upcoming plenary votes, the EU Parliament should focus on supporting the development of a European circular bioeconomy. 

A first vote, on the land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) regulation, has brought forth the principle that carbon removals from forest sinks should support, but not replace, efforts to reduce fossil emissions. In other words, forests should not be used to compensate for other sectors’ emissions, including non-CO2 agricultural emissions. This is a balanced approach to the integration of land-based removals to the overall objective of net carbon neutrality.

2021 07 09 110047Other proposed changes to the Commission’s proposal point towards the potential of forest products to help decarbonise the EU by substituting carbon-intensive ones. But one amendment which increases the target amount of carbon to be removed from the atmosphere by forests, up to 360 million tons of CO2 by 2030, may at the same time negatively affect the development of renewable and sustainable forest products by setting aside some forests for carbon offsets.

Other positions held by the ENVI Committee are similarly contradictory. A vote on the revision of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) Directive, while it would severely reduce financial resources for low-carbon investments has also recognised the contribution that biomass could offer as a clean source of energy for industries. However, an ENVI opinion on the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) seems to call the same principle into question. The opinion not only favours secondary over primary biomass use for energy by excluding the latter from national support schemes. It even excludes primary biomass complying with all sustainability criteria from counting towards the renewable energy target. Still, primary biomass currently accounts for nearly 50 percent of the wood input used for bioenergy, which in turn represents almost 60 percent of the renewable energy consumption in the EU.

As part of the revision, the Commission has proposed that 40 percent of the EU’s energy mix should come from renewables. The compromise amendments to the ENVI Committee’s draft report suggest increasing that target to 45 percent. That higher goal could be out of reach if primary biomass is excluded from the outset. Cepi calls on the Members of the European Parliament to correct this contradiction in the upcoming plenary vote in June. 

Without requesting an in-depth impact assessment and industry consultation, the Committee also voted for the extension of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) to all ETS sectors. CBAM is meant to protect energy intensive industries from carbon leakage: an unintended increase in CO2 emissions, as a result of the EU’s comparatively cleaner industry losing to global competitors. However, for some ETS sectors with very specific value chains, products and global trade flows, such as the pulp and paper industry, a CBAM will not be an effective tool to address carbon leakage and reduce emissions. The Committee’s vote notably fails to provide a concrete solution for exports, while accelerating free allowances phasing-out and threatening the existing indirect carbon cost compensation scheme. 

Quote:

“We call on the Members of the European Parliament to ensure in plenary that the Fit for 55 package enables the EU economy to deliver on high climate ambitions in the next decade. Unfortunately, the version of Fit for 55 pushed forward by the ENVI Committee makes investing in decarbonisation and in the development of the circular bioeconomy sector very challenging.”

Jori Ringman, Director General – Cepi (Confederation of the European Paper Industries)

About Cepi :

Cepi is the European association representing the paper industry. We offer a wide range of renewable and recyclable wood-based fibre solutions to EU citizens: from packaging to textile, hygiene and tissue products, printing and graphic papers as well as speciality papers, but also bio-chemicals for food and pharmaceuticals, bio-composites and bioenergy. We are a responsible industry: 86% of our raw materials are sourced from within the European Union and 78% of the wood comes from certified forests, 92% of the water we use is returned in good condition to the environment. We are the world champion in recycling at the rate of 73.9%. At the forefront of the decarbonisation and industrial transformation of our economy, we embrace digitalisation and bring 18.5 billion value addition to the European economy and €4.5 billion investments annually. Through its 18 national associations, Cepi gathers 495 companies operating 895 mills across Europe and directly employing more than 180,000 people.

More information about our sustainability performance here

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As governments around the world turn to the benefits of sustainable forest management and forest products to support climate action and post-pandemic economic recovery, a new agreement struck today at the World Forestry Congress in Seoul will help advance forestry solutions and policy dialogue around the world.

The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat and the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA), of which Cepi is a member, announced a new partnership that will make ICFPA the focal of the forest sector globally, providing a framework for the two organizations to work together to discuss and implement forest-related policies and agreements that are good for people and the planet.

Quotes:

2020 02 21 105500“The United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2017-2030 calls for a world where forests are sustainably managed, contribute to sustainable development, and provide economic, social, environmental, and cultural benefits for present and future generations. An estimated 1.6 billion people, or 25% of the global population, rely on forests for their subsistence needs, livelihoods, employment, and income. The private sector is fundamental in the promotion and implementation of sustainable forest management, so working with our partners in the forest industry will be critical to our ultimate success and we are delighted to have ICFPA supporting the UN Forum on Forests in this important work.”

Barbara Tavora-Jainchill – Programme Management Officer, Forest Affairs, United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations 

“There is no path to a lower carbon economy without sustainable forest management and sustainably sourced forest products. This new collaboration between ICFPA and UNFF will allow us to advance policy insights and learnings across international borders to build a resilient global economy – one that creates greater economic and social opportunities for the nearly 2 billion people who live in or near forested communities around the globe.”

Derek Nighbor - President ICFPA (International Council of Forest and Paper Associations)

About the UNEF:

In October 2000, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC), in its Resolution 2000/35 established the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), a subsidiary body with the main objective to promote “… the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and to strengthen long-term political commitment to this end…” based on the Rio Declaration, the Forest PrinciplesChapter 11 of Agenda 21 and the outcome of the IPF/IFF Processes and other key milestones of international forest policy.

The Forum has universal membership and is composed of all Member States of the United Nations and specialized agencies.

The participation of a wide range of these stakeholders is crucial to the achievement of sustainable forest management. For this reason, the Forum welcomes and encourages the active participation of forest-related stakeholders who within the context of the Forum are referred to as Major Groups, including:

  • Business and Industry
  • Children and Youth
  • Farmers
  • Indigenous People
  • Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)
  • Local Authorities
  • Scientific and Technological Community
  • Women
  • Workers and Trade Unions

About the ICFPA:

The ICFPA serves as a forum of global dialogue, coordination, and co-operation across the global forest sector. 

Currently, the ICFPA represents 18 pulp, paper, wood, and wood fibre-based associations that encompass 28 countries, including many of the top pulp, paper, and wood producers around the world.

The ICFPA advances global positions on climate smart forestry and forest products, the carbon neutrality of biomass and commercial forest plantations to help drive a circular future rooted in renewable forest resources. 

The Strategic Plan provides a global framework for actions at all levels to sustainably manage all types of forests and trees outside forests and halt deforestation.

At the heart of the Strategic Plan are six Global Forest Goals and 26 associated targets to be achieved by 2030, which are voluntary and universal. 

About Cepi :

Cepi is the European association representing the paper industry. We offer a wide range of renewable and recyclable wood-based fibre solutions to EU citizens: from packaging to textile, hygiene and tissue products, printing and graphic papers as well as speciality papers, but also bio-chemicals for food and pharmaceuticals, bio-composites and bioenergy. We are a responsible industry: 86% of our raw materials are sourced from within the European Union and 78% of the wood comes from certified forests, 92% of the water we use is returned in good condition to the environment. We are the world champion in recycling at the rate of 73.9%. At the forefront of the decarbonisation and industrial transformation of our economy, we embrace digitalisation and bring 18.5 billion value addition to the European economy and €4.5 billion investments annually. Through its 18 national associations, Cepi gathers 495 companies operating 895 mills across Europe and directly employing more than 180,000 people.

More information about our sustainability performance here

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The European Commission presented its proposal for a Regulation on ecodesing for sustainable products. The Regulation provides an overarching framework to ensure sustainability considerations are properly accounted for, before a product is placed on the internal market. 

The Commission has worked on setting guidelines for sustainable product design, aiming to make products fit for a climate-neutral, resource efficient and circular economy, while reducing waste generation. The proposal also aims to ensure that the performance of frontrunners in sustainability progressively becomes the norm. The pulp and paper industry is already leading in many areas of sustainability, and has pledged to further support the development of sustainable products. However, Cepi, the Confederation of European pulp and paper producers, considers that two important requirements for products sustainability could figure more prominently in the proposed Regulation. 

2020 02 21 105500The ecodesign requirements laid out in the proposal are set up to be applicable to the broadest possible range of products: durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability, the presence of substances of concern in products, product energy and resource efficiency, recycled content in products, product remanufacturing and high-quality recycling, and the reduction of the carbon and environmental footprints. Considering this list, Cepi thinks that the additional requirement of renewability will need to be included and that recyclability should be addressed in a more consistent manner. These two requirements could eventually apply to many products, not limited to the pulp and paper industry, providing that fossil-based materials are progressively replaced with renewable and circular ones:

  1. Renewability: As the product portfolio of our industry continues to expand, we keep proving that forests can provide alternative solutions to products which are currently made with materials that do not naturally replenish themselves. For this reason, it is important, whenever possible, to incentivise ‘renewable products’ made of resources that can be sustainably managed rather than on finite resources.
  2. Recyclability: Cepi welcomes that recyclability is addressed as part of the product parameters mentioned in annex I (d) as ‘ease and quality of recycling’. A requirement to design and manufacture products so that they can be recycled, is imperative to product circularity and a key enabler of high-quality recycling. High-quality recycling in the case of paper products means they are recycled back in the paper industry to become new paper products. However, ‘ease of recycling’ needs to be consistently addressed throughout the proposal, for example also in the context of the amounts of waste generated and the ease of re-use annex I (p). Design for recyclability requirements could also address the presence of substances of concerns, which negatively affect the re-use and recycling of a given product. Circularity by Design Guidelines for Fibre-Based Packaging have already been developed within the framework of 4evergreen, a cooperation between brands and the packaging value chain. 


The broad requirements laid down in the new Regulation will be complemented by product group specific delegated acts. To ensure policy cohesion and avoiding regulatory overlaps, Cepi acknowledges the Commission’s intention to carefully assess already existing legislation and definitions when drafting the upcoming product-specific delegated acts. For our industry, this would mean consistency with the circularity aspect of fibre-based packaging under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, and coherence with forest-related sustainability requirements, such as in the Renewable Energy Directive. This Directive already includes requirements on energy from sustainable forest management that could similarly apply on products.

Quote:

“In the move towards sustainability, we need to examine sourcing of the raw materials that we use. It is often raw materials that are the biggest cause for concern for the environment, and it is here where change needs to take place. Anything you can do from fossil raw material you can also do from wood in a way that is better for the planet. Europe can be more strategic in using its own renewable resources, waste and leading technology to advance a made-in-Europe industry of the future.”

Jori Ringman, Director General – Cepi (Confederation of the European Paper Industries)

About Cepi :

Cepi is the European association representing the paper industry. We offer a wide range of renewable and recyclable wood-based fibre solutions to EU citizens: from packaging to textile, hygiene and tissue products, printing and graphic papers as well as speciality papers, but also bio-chemicals for food and pharmaceuticals, bio-composites and bioenergy. We are a responsible industry: 86% of our raw materials are sourced from within the European Union and 78% of the wood comes from certified forests, 92% of the water we use is returned in good condition to the environment. We are the world champion in recycling at the rate of 73.9%. At the forefront of the decarbonisation and industrial transformation of our economy, we embrace digitalisation and bring 18.5 billion value addition to the European economy and €4.5 billion investments annually. Through its 18 national associations, Cepi gathers 495 companies operating 895 mills across Europe and directly employing more than 180,000 people.

More information about our sustainability performance here

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Cepi, the European paper industry association, and its members across Europe have responded decisively in face of the unjustified military aggression against Ukraine and in a spirit of solidarity with the people in Ukraine at this difficult time. We support EU leaders in their defence of international law, human rights and democratic values.

Europeans see our products as essential goods. But to provide them and maintain business as usual has proven difficult. Our sector is particularly hit by the spike in energy prices. At the time of writing, many paper mills across of Europe were forced to stop production or to introduce temporary downtimes. This situation puts at risk the jobs of over 4 million people who are employed in the European forest-based value chain.

2021 07 09 110047The supply chain shortages could have major implications for the pulp and paper industry. Products of all kinds made of pulp and paper, including packaging and essential hygiene products, are in danger of disruptions. This includes the transport and delivery of food and pharmaceuticals, including to the populations which need it the most in the face of the multiple current crises.

The Versailles Declaration has called for the protection of critical infrastructure, we are now calling for our sectors[i] to be recognised as essential suppliers in several critical European value chains and to be eligible for state aid and preferential gas deliveries. This will ensure continuity of vital supplies to society during the double energetic and security crisis, and as the EU is still recovering from the Covid-19 health crisis.

Reasons for further diversification of gas supplies, as called for by the EU Commission and several Member States are well understood, and supported, by our sector. Over the past decade, we have been leading in terms of investments in the transition to a greener and more efficient energy model. But it is important that new restrictions are applied in a pragmatic and fair way, and with deep respect to the fundamental role of different economic sectors.

A plan to wean ourselves off Russian gas and oil as a feedstock for manufacturing should be backed by the necessary national and European resources.  Wood-based materials clearly are such a resource, and many connected sectors are already starting to tap into our readily available substitutes. In addressing Europe’s strategic dependencies, Heads of State and Government have also underlined the importance of critical raw materials; wood-based materials are a key enabling raw material. Pulp and paper and their derivatives hold potential as circular, sustainable and home-grown substitutes for those fossil materials impacted by the crisis. This includes a number of plastic-based products, but also textiles, packaging, and even electric car batteries. By replacing CO2-intensive materials with wood-based products we reduce EU emissions by 10%, or 410 Mt CO2 equivalent per year.

As we did in past times of crisis, we will strongly support the work of the EU institutions and national governments with our reiterated commitment to invest in Europe’s energy future and growth model, and by providing regular updates on the evolution of the paper and pulp sector economic situation.

[i] NACE codes 17, 18 and 02.10

About Cepi :

Cepi is the European association representing the paper industry. We offer a wide range of renewable and recyclable wood-based fibre solutions to EU citizens: from packaging to textile, hygiene and tissue products, printing and graphic papers as well as speciality papers, but also bio-chemicals for food and pharmaceuticals, bio-composites and bioenergy. We are a responsible industry: 86% of our raw materials are sourced from within the European Union and 78% of the wood comes from certified forests, 92% of the water we use is returned in good condition to the environment. We are the world champion in recycling at the rate of 73.9%. At the forefront of the decarbonisation and industrial transformation of our economy, we embrace digitalisation and bring 18.5 billion value addition to the European economy and €4.5 billion investments annually.

More information about our sustainability performance here

Through its 18 national associations, Cepi gathers 495 companies operating 895 mills across Europe and directly employing more than 180,000 people.

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Cepi’s thoughts are with our colleagues and the people of Ukraine who are suffering an unbearable war. Today, we see how the unprovoked and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine has become a dramatic wakeup call to strengthen the European Union’s energy security and to build its strategic autonomy. In this context, the forest fibre-based industry offers readily available solutions to address the serious shortcomings of Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels.

In its communication, RePowerEU: Joint European action for more affordable, secure and sustainable energy, the European Commission focuses on reducing Europe’s dependence on energy imports. Access to affordable clean energy is paramount to keep operations in our sector going. For months, the pulp and paper industry has been enduring high energy prices, which are skyrocketing in the recent days. Therefore, the long-overdue actions at both national and EU levels to secure the industry’s future in Europe remain critical. 

2020 02 21 105500Decisionmakers must also realise that Europe needs to address its dependence not only on energy imports, but also on fossil-based materials. The European economy can further minimise its fossil fuel needs by tapping into the potential of bio-based value chains to substitute carbon-intensive materials. To further build the resilience of the European economy, we call on the European Commission to reconsider its approach to renewable, bio-based products. 

The forest fibre-based value chains offer readily available solutions. The upcoming Bioeconomy Strategy will be essential to make this homegrown sector of the European economy thrive. In dramatically changing circumstances, Cepi calls on the Commission to update the Forest Strategy adopted last July and make it an indispensable part of the EU’s geopolitical strategy. Europe should finally tap into the full potential of forests, forest-based products and sustainable forest management practices to reduce its dependence on fossil materials. 

About Cepi :
Cepi is the European association representing the paper industry. We offer a wide range of renewable and recyclable wood-based fibre solutions to EU citizens: from packaging to textile, hygiene and tissue products, printing and graphic papers as well as speciality papers, but also bio-chemicals for food and pharmaceuticals, bio-composites and bioenergy. We are a responsible industry: 86% of our raw materials are sourced from within the European Union and 78% of the wood comes from certified forests, 92% of the water we use is returned in good condition to the environment. We are the world champion in recycling at the rate of 73.9%. At the forefront of the decarbonisation and industrial transformation of our economy, we embrace digitalisation and bring 18.5 billion value addition to the European economy and €4.5 billion investments annually.

More information about our sustainability performance here.

Through its 18 national associations, Cepi gathers 495 companies operating 895 mills across Europe and directly employing more than 180,000 people.

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