Spring 2019
INSIGHTS SUSTAINABILITY »
NEWS | REVIEWS | IDEAS | OPINION |
PAPER, PACKAGING, AND PRINT: A Sustainability Story We Love to Tell
Phil Riebel President, Two Sides North America
As President of Two Sides North America, a graphic communications, industry- funded nonprofit, Phil Riebel is the first to admit that we could all use less resources including paper. He just wants you to know the whole story. The narrative over the last two decades has been clear:
going green means not using paper. But the efforts made by the paper and print industry to become more sustainable might surprise you, and the environmental impact of going digital will too. Much of Riebel’s role at Two Sides involves
approaching companies and educating them about the facts and misinformation surrounding the use of paper products and print. “Corporations are trying to push consumers to go digital more each year, trying to move them all to online billing, for example,” says Riebel, who has 30 years of experience working in the paper industry. “And for years there has been a very active marketing campaign around going paperless, where organizations tout the environmental benefits by saying, ‘Go green, go paperless, save the planet, save trees.’ But they don’t always understand the life cycle of paper and things such
as sustainable forestry. At Two Sides, we approach companies, educate them, and help the graphic communications and print industry by urging the companies to remove the negative claims that are misleading.” Riebel was Vice President of Sustainability
for UPM-Kymmene Group, a paper- and forest- products company in Helsinki, Finland, when Two Sides was founded in the UK in 2008. As the only organization addressing the negative environmental messaging the paper industry was feeling the brunt of, Two Sides quickly gained members in Europe first and then Australia. After returning to the United States, Riebel launched Two Sides North America in 2012 with the assistance of the National Paper Trade Association (NPTA) and its member companies. Today the organization is present in all 5 continents. Riebel says the negative narrative around paper use stems from the fact that the industry was simply out-communicated by media and environmental groups for a long time. “We let environmentalists and the media tell a negative story about our industry early on,” he says. “Now we are working to promote the benefits of paper and print. It should have been done 30 years ago, but the good news is that the positives have changed today to include increased environmental
responsibility, reduction of carbon footprints, and, of course, the increased value of print as a marketing channel.” The fact that the industry has made major
advances concerning sustainability sure helps the messenger. It starts with two big topics: responsible forest management and the recyclability of paper products. Riebel says there is a strong story to tell in North America about how forests are being better managed, despite the negative imagery in the media, such as pictures of clear-cut forests. “If we manage forests properly, we will have a sustainable resource,” Riebel says. “In North America especially, we have made great strides in the area of responsible forest management. Companies have experts on staff, and we have government regulators tasked with making sure we manage forests for the long term so that they will provide not just economic return but also recreational, social, and environmental benefits.” A major boost in helping promote responsible
forestry and manufacturing of paper products is the stringent certifications that have been implemented. Currently, there are three main third-party groups enforcing forestry standards globally—the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and
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