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Sustainability at the Root of the Paper and Wood Products Industry

"We use everything but the shade.” 

Sustainable forest management is a core value among AF&PA members. Our members know that our forests have a bigger story behind them, and it all starts at the root. Pulp and paper manufacturing emphasizes energy conservation and reuse of inputs and materials including fiber and water. We aim to do more with less by maximizing the efficient use of these resources, multiple times.

To help tell our sustainability story, AF&PA teamed up with the Pulp and Paperworkers Resource Council to talk to those who are working with the forest and trees up close. From mill operators to machine tenders, each worker has seen how sustainable forest management has dramatically affected the industry for good. Watch and learn why.

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