The Spanish pulp and paper industry is strongly committed to a shared vision as a doubly circular bioindustry (natural circularity with natural and renewable raw materials and social circularity with recyclable and massively recycled bioproducts), called to lead the decarbonization of our economy.
The pulp and paper industry formulates its vision of sustainability as the decisive contribution of paper and the companies that manufacture it to the improvement of the quality of life and sustainable development, through sustainable forest management, clean production processes and the continuous recycling of its products.
SUSTAINABILITY TRENDS
The paper and board industry has internalized the objectives of sustainable development and these are part of the daily management of the companies, with the following trends in the sector.
-
SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT
The paper industry is committed to the promotion of sustainable forest management of these plantations and their certification, which includes aspects such as forest health, maintenance, conservation and improvement of biodiversity and regeneration capacity to prolong the existence of forest stands over time.
The cellulose fiber from which paper is made in Spain is a natural, renewable and recyclable resource that comes from the wood fiber of fast-growing species (pine and eucalyptus) grown almost entirely in local plantations, which are continually being regenerated and replanted.
The commitment of the Spanish paper sector to sustainable forest management and the development of its certification has yielded great results in the last decade. Today, 100% of pulp mills and pulp suppliers, 92% of wood suppliers in the sector and 62% of paper mills are certified.
-
REDUCTION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT. EMISSIONS, WASTE AND ZERO DISCHARGE
The pulp and paper industry is electro-intensive and heat-intensive: it needs electricity to move the machinery and heat to dry the pulp and paper. The sector produces most of the thermal and electrical energy it needs in cogeneration plants located next to its factories, thus avoiding transportation losses.
The sector is facing this challenge with the improvement of:
- the fuel mix
- energy efficiency
- water saving and care
- recovery of manufacturing waste
- digitization of processes
-
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
The paper value chain starts with paperwood plantations, from which the paper industry produces pulp and paper and converters manufacture a wide range of paper and cardboard products such as containers and packaging of all kinds (boxes, bags, etc.), stationery (envelopes, notebooks, folders, etc.) and tissue products (toilet paper, tissues, kitchen towels, etc.).
Faced with the increasing depopulation and aging of the rural world in Spain, local wood plantations for paper are an engine for the creation of employment and wealth. In terms of employment, the 480,122 hectares of wood plantations used for paper provide 5,083 direct jobs in reforestation and forestry tasks and 15,935 indirect jobs in machinery, transport, workshops…
The doubly circular pulp and paper bioindustry, with 69 paper mills and 10 pulp production plants, is the engine of a powerful and sustainable value chain whose overall contribution to the economy accounts for 4.5% of GDP and generates one out of every fifty jobs in our country. Using local raw materials, the sector improves the quality of life of 21st century citizens with renewable and recyclable bioproducts, which are increasingly replacing products derived from non-renewable fossil resources.
-
LEADERSHIP IN RECOVERY AND RECYCLING
The paper cycle, which begins with the natural circularity of the renewable nature of the raw material (wood for paper grown in plantations), closes with quality local recycling, thanks to the concurrence of three factors: a highly efficient collection system, with the involvement of municipalities and the massive collaboration of citizens, an important recovery sector and a paper industry with a large recycling capacity (the second most recycling capacity in Europe) that guarantees the recycling of all paper collected in Spain in accordance with European quality standards.
