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AF&PA Underscores Support for EPA’s Smart Sectors Program; Thanks Agency for Adding Paper and Wood Products Module

Contact: Tim Ebner / Lindsay Murphy

(202) 463-2436, comm@afandpa.org 

WASHINGTON – American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock underscored AF&PA’s strong support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Smart Sectors Program and expressed appreciation to the Agency for showcasing paper and wood products manufacturing in a new sector snapshot. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the addition of a paper and wood products module to the Smart Sectors program on April 16, 2020. 

AF&PA President and CEO Heidi Brock said, “EPA’s Smart Sectors program deserves to be commended for providing valuable information illustrating paper and wood products manufacturer’s contributions to sustainability and significant environmental progress, including per dollar value of goods produced. As one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the nation, we appreciate having our economic and environmental performance showcased in a readily accessible, interactive platform. For example, greenhouse gases and sulfur dioxide emissions are down 20 percent and 67 percent respectively from 2005 to 2016.  That winning combination will help inform various stakeholders about our sector’s work to protect the environment as our industry provides high-paying jobs in rural communities. The paper and wood products sector supports approximately 950,000 direct and nearly three million indirect jobs to make products essential to everyday life.”

The paper and wood products industry sector snapshot joins those highlighting automotive manufacturing, iron and steel, chemical manufacturing and utilities and power generation. Information on EPA’s Smart Sectors Program and the sector snapshots can be access at: https://epa.gov/smartsectors/sector-snapshots

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) serves to advance public policies that foster economic growth, job creation and global competitiveness for a vital sector that makes the essential paper and packaging products Americans use every day. The U.S. forest products industry employs more than 925,000 people, largely in rural America, and is among the top 10 manufacturing sector employers in 44 states. Our industry accounts for approximately 4.7% of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, manufacturing more than $435 billion in products annually. AF&PA member companies are significant producers and users of renewable biomass energy and are committed to making sustainable products for a sustainable future through the industry’s decades-long initiative — Better Practices, Better Planet 2030