Sustainability

Whilst paper is seen by many as an environmentally acceptable form of packaging compared with plastic, there are serious issues around the energy consumption and pollution levels associated with the manufacture of paper.

1. Current levels of production of paper are at unsustainable levels and are increasing

2. The industry has substantial climate change impacts, from raw material sourcing from forests, through production to the end of life. Biodegrading paper produces dangerous greenhouse gases, particularly Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and more seriously Methane, (CH4)

3. The pulp and paper industry is one of the world’s leading polluters. Making one sheet of A4 paper uses as much as 20 litres of water. The process is chemically intensive and discharges toxic chemicals as effluent into waterways, mainly from the use of chlorine for bleaching

4. Paper production is directly responsible for a reduction in natural forests. A concern is that in the northern hemisphere, the loss of forests is running at an unsustainable pace of 7.6 million hectares per year, most notably in Brazil. In Indonesia, about 1.1 million hectares of peatlands have been drained to create Acacia plantations for wood pulp. These plantations account for 80 million tonnes of Co2 emissions annually. Equivalent to 23 coal-fired power stations

5. At Tyler, we believe that the climate change problem cannot be solved without a major upscale in both forest protection and restoration across the planet.