McDonald’s Canada is on a journey to make its packaging more sustainable as part of its goal to reduce its environmental footprint and source 100 per cent of guest packaging from renewable and/or recycled materials.

To help get there, McDonald’s will unveil two “Green Concept Restaurants” in London, Ontario and Vancouver, BC. These restaurants will act as incubator locations to test new packaging options and recycling initiatives.

The Green Concept Restaurants will continue using much of the current McDonald’s packaging but will also test items with the potential to be rolled out more widely in the future. The first innovations will begin testing in the coming months and include:

The company says that, alongside current packaging, the two locations will introduce lids for all three cold cup sizes that are made from 100% Forest Stewardship Council certified wood fiber. In addition, the restaurants will offer customers wooden cutlery, wooden stir sticks, and paper straws.

In January 2018, McDonald’s announced that by 2025, 100 percent of McDonald’s guest packaging will come from renewable, recycled, or certified sources with a preference for Forest Stewardship Council certification.

Tom Murray, Vice President of EDF+Business at Environmental Defense Fund noted “McDonald’s global preference for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified materials demonstrates their far-reaching commitment to source packaging that benefits people and forests around the world,” said Kim Carstensen, director general of the Forest Stewardship Council. “The partnership between McDonald’s and FSC – the world’s most trusted certification of forests and forest products – also creates a uniquely powerful opportunity for McDonald’s to engage customers about simple ways to protect forests,” he added.

Source: Newswire

Source: Domtar Paper

Paper often gets a bad rap, but despite fears about paper’s impact on the environment, it’s actually a practical and sustainable choice for many parts of daily living. We’re learning more about the benefits of supplementing technology with print when it comes to education, estate planning and even celebrating life’s milestones. And thanks to our industry’s continuing focus on paper sustainability, our environmental footprint decreases every year.

We live in a world that is growing more conscious of the environmental effects of consumer choices. In the flurry of information about making sustainable choices, some myths about paper sustainability have proliferated.

It’s time to clear the air on five of the most persistent paper sustainability myths.

Myth 1: Cutting down trees to make paper destroys habitats.

Responsible forestry and a thriving forest products industry help sustain wildlife habitats. When landowners are able to make a living by successfully managing these natural resources, they are incentivized to keep forests as forests.

Sustainable forest management requires thinning tree stands to create open areas while maintaining older, denser canopies in other areas. Wildlife habitat diversity helps ensure ample food supply for wildlife and species’ ability to mate and thrive.

We support several regional efforts that bolster wildlife habitats in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Quebec and other areas.

Myth 2: Paper production contributes to water pollution.

Nearly 90 percent of the water we use at our pulp and paper mills comes from local sources, such as nearby lakes and rivers. It’s the same water where we fish, swim and ski, so we want it to be safe and clean.

That’s why after we’ve used water, we treat it onsite and return almost 90 percent of it to its source, often cleaner than it was when we took it out. We will continue to improve our water conservation efforts, as this is an important part of paper sustainability.

Myth 3: Paper manufacturing is bad for the climate.

It takes energy to make the paper we use in thousands of everyday products. The good news is that much of that energy comes from renewable sources. In recent years, 75 percent of the energy used in Domtar pulp and paper mills has come from renewable, carbon-neutral biomass sources; it’s largely generated from wood processing and pulping byproducts.

Also, since 2010, Domtar has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions at pulp and paper mills by 18 percent. We’re working hard to not only set but also to raise the environmental standard for the paper industry.

Myth 4: Electronic communications are more sustainable than paper communications.

Worldwide, billions of smartphones, computers and other connected devices are used every day. Making these devices requires fossil fuels, chemicals, water and precious or rare-earth minerals, as well as other components that are detrimental to the environment, such as lead, arsenic and mercury.

While sustainability-minded consumers often focus on the environmental effects of paper production, they should also understand the facts about electronic communication before declaring it a better choice. The updated report “Print and Paper Myths and Facts” by Two Sides North America offers important data about e-waste, chemical use and greenhouse gas emissions that result from computer and smartphone manufacturing. This data includes the environmental effects of e-mail, texting, social media and other electronic communications.

Myth 5: People don’t recycle paper.

Americans are doing a better job recycling paper than ever before. Paper recovery rates in the United States reached an all-time high of 68 percent in 2018. Recycling paper not only keeps the material out of landfills but also prevents methane, a greenhouse gas, from forming when paper and other organic materials decompose.

Thanks to paper recycling, Domtar’s book paper has a very long shelf life — quite literally. We also make stationery and copy paper that, after it serves its initial purpose, comes back for encore performances as paper bags, birthday cards, gift boxes, egg cartons or, eventually, toilet tissue.

Paper sustainability is important to us and the entire paper industry for environmental and economic reasons. But we also know that paper offers many advantages that electronic communications don’t. Read more about why you should choose paper for security, memory preservation, education, office communications and more:

• Handwriting Benefits Outweigh Digital Advances, Studies Show
• Five Reasons Why Your Estate Plan Needs Paper
• How to Choose the Right Paper for the Job
• 5 Ways to Be More Mindful Using Paper
• Back-to-School Report: Paper and Productive Learning
• E-Documents or Paper: Which Should I Choose?
• Paper Plays a Key Role During Graduation Season

The life cycle of recycled paper from recycling bin to final product

Most consumers are unaware of the steps and parties involved in the process of transforming paper recovered from recycling bins into final products.

As a manufacturer of commercial papers with up to 100 per cent recycled content, Rolland sees waste paper as a valuable resource. By offering sustainable paper products and helping to transform paper from recycling bins into new products, Rolland allows its customers to reduce their environmental impact and contribute to a circular economy.

The graphic below illustrates the journey of post-consumer recycled paper, from recycling bin to final product [ click to enlarge ]:

Legend

• Recycling Bin Paper is collected from recycling bins at national and regional levels and transported to Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs)
• Sorting Centers MRFs receive, separate and prepare recyclable materials
• Recyclable Paper Bales Recyclable paper materials are compacted into large rectangular bales
• Sustana Fibers Facility Recyclable paper materials are transported to Sustana’s recycled fibers facility
• Pulping, Screening & Washing Recyclable paper is blended in a pulping machine with water into a coarse pulp. Fibers are screened & washed to remove solid impurities and ink particles
• Post-Consumer Recycled Fibers Fibers are thickened by dewatering, cut into sheets and baled
• Rolland Paper Mill Fiber bales are transported to Rolland’s Paper Mill
• Paper Machine Fibers are mixed with water, refined, screened, then processed using Rolland’s equipment, dried and formed into large rolls of paper
• Converting Rolls of recycled paper are transported to Rolland’s converting center and cut into sheets
• Final Products Sheets of post-consumer recycled paper are transported to end-users and turned into final products

Stats sources

• 1) https://www.usi.edu/recycle/paper-recycling-facts/
• 2) https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Solid-Waste-Final.pdf
• 4) https://www.sustanagroup.com/blog/envirolife-sustainability-solution-food-packaging
• 5) Schneider, Jim. Personal interview. May 24, 2018.
• 7) https://www.rollandinc.com/en/blog/extraordinary-water-conservation-everyday-result-rolland
• 8) https://www.rollandinc.com/en/blog/print-great-and-recycled-paper-makes-it-even-better
• 10) https://www.rollandinc.com/en/environmental-stewardship/eco-calculator

We need to look at a lot of the myths and feelings we have around printing sustainability and harvesting trees that we carry with us from the past. What does the term ‘tree friendly’ imply? Does it mean that it is somehow environmentally responsible – or better for our planet? Here’s a rundown of the current ‘green’ alternatives out there in the industry.

Sugar Cane Paper

On the surface, it seems like an amazing environmental choice – it is manufactured from the reside waste of sugar cane.

However, we don’t know a lot about the environmental regulations in many of the countries where it is manufactured – especially concerning treatment of waste or by-products of the manufacturing process. In addition, many regions of the world where sugarcane is grown and processed still use oil and coal as energy sources. It would likely be safe to assume that the conversion and manufacturing process itself is very energy intensive. What are the ramifications of this combination?

An often neglected and hidden factor in the product choices we make is transportation and shipping. Freighters burn cheap bunker oil; it is only now that that the damaging effects of the shipping and transportation industries have come to the forefront. How does shipping impact the environmental footprint of these papers that come from the tropics?

Cocoon and Rolland EnviroPrint | 100% Post-Consumer Waste Papers

Cocoon is a new brand of coated papers made from 100% post-consumer waste. We do need to keep in mind, however, that this paper is manufactured in Europe. While we can assume very high standards and regulations, transport must also be considered.

The Rolland manufacturing plant is in Quebec. Rolland gets 90% of its mill’s energy needs from biogas — transported in a dedicated, 8 mile pipeline from a nearby landfill. Because it uses biogas and processes chlorine-free, it is a top choice all the 100% PCW papers available.

Stone Paper

Another option often marketed as ‘green’ is Stone Paper. We can often favor it over synthetic stocks because it is manufactured from calcium carbonate. It is, however, bonded with high-density polyethylene (HDPE).  The HDPE content is generally around 20%, so every 100 lbs. of this paper contains 20 lbs. of plastic. It’s ‘tree friendly,’ but not environmentally friendly at all.

FSC Papers

The best choice might just be FSC certified paper (with varying levels of recycled post-consumer waste). In North America, we no longer ‘harvest’ trees, we ‘farm’ them; the forests are valued as renewable resources.

North American paper manufactures (with the FSC) are maintaining our forests in sustainable ways. This is not just optics.  Without a truly renewable way of moving forward, the industry realized it would not survive. Pulp and Paper manufacturers are constantly audited by the FSC and manufacturing processes are review to regulatory bodies and laws. In addition, the energy sources to manufacture pulp and paper are generally much cleaner in North America.

Conclusion

The fact that we are at the point where we think about making green and better choices is a positive and optimistic step. We must, however, make sure that we weigh all the options and think critically about each of the choices we make to ensure they are well thought out and not made on a purely emotional basis.

By choosing Rainforest Alliance Certified™ hotels and tour operators in Latin America and the Caribbean, you’ll be visiting destinations that are not only fun and beautiful, but also benefit local communities, ecosystems and wildlife.

Read more . . .

The North American pulp and paper industry has made great progress in reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions over the last decade and at the same time have increased their use of certified fiber and support for sustainable forest management.

read more….

If you are considering “going greener,” reduce your environmental footprint with Rolland Enviro100 Print papers.

Recycled:
100% Post consumer waste. A smooth finish makes it an ecological alternative that displays an impeccable look and rich colour quality every time

Manufactured With Biogas Energy:
Biogas comes from decomposing landfill waste that’s been captured to prevent its release into the air. It is transported by pipeline to Rolland and used as thermal energy to produce paper instead of using traditional combustible fuels. Not only is biogas a renewable energy, it reduces their CO2 emissions by 70,000 tons, or 23,400 compact cars, annually.

Processed Chlorine Free:
Uses 6 times less water than the industry average and contains no chlorine or derivatives, making it the only fine paper to be certified Processed Chlorine Free in North America.

BOND is proud to offer the Rolland Enviro100 Print line of papers.