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Sustainability - part of the tissue value chain
17th of February 2014
The tissue sector is taking significant steps in meeting the challenges of sustainability, said Roberto Berardi of the European Tissue Symposium (ETS) recently.
"When you work in an industry that relies on forests for its base material then you naturally think long term," he explained. "Business sustainability is a way of life in the European tissue industry where trees can have a growing cycle of up to 50 years. Europe has some of the most advanced forestry management systems in the world and performs well against a range of sustainability criteria."
Berardi went on to explain the sector is working to increase its sustainability in areas including recycling, recovery, transport, water and workplace safety. "We are immensely proud of our most recent initiative in the area of Forest Certification," he continued. "This is a crucial development for the sector and offers reassurance to our customers and consumers while also lending further credibility to the industry."
ETS supports the use of fibres from sustainably and legally managed forests and encourages the use of third party certification as one of the best ways to ensure that suppliers meet these requirements. It has particularly welcomed the new EU Timber Regulation which came into force in 2013 and ensures that only products from legally sourced wood are sold across the EU28.
"Looking to the future our industry will continue to push the boundaries in re-utilisation techniques," Berardi said on looking to the future for the tissue sector. "I believe we will develop ever more efficient and effective paper production and converting technology and perhaps machines will be more compact so located closer to the final customer.
"My dream of course is that future innovations will provide the planet with unlimited quantities of low cost, low impact energy. This would enable us to develop the ideal toilet roll: soft, absorbent, resistant, very long, pleasantly decorated, made with recycled fibres and at a price that is accessible to the vast majority of people."
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