Indonesia’s second largest pulp and paper company is preparing to start work on a project to restore a degraded peat forest in Sumatra, marking a new direction for the company that has left some skeptical. April has been widely criticized by environmental groups such as Greenpeace, who accuse the paper giant of cutting down natural forests in Sumatra to feed its paper mills. When the company announced its Kampar Peninsula project, local environmental groups such as the Forest Rescue Network Riau (Jikalahari) called the project “greenwashing” and said the company was continuing to destroy forests in other parts of the province.

The Indonesian Forestry Ministry claims that Indonesian forestry companies are yet to benefit from FSC certificates, particularly when compared to their involvement with the country’s own mandatory legality certification, SVLK. The ministry’s secretary general said FSC certification had not affected product prices, and advised companies that it wasn’t necessary to acquire FSC certification. The Government is obviously keen to promote its own national scheme and made these comments following FSC’s decision to revoke all certificates held by pulp & paper group, APRIL. The company has since decided to focus on legality through the SVLK scheme.

A WRI analysis of the pulp and paper sector, which is the third-largest energy user in US manufacturing, found that it could cost-effectively reduce its energy use in the Midwest by 25 per cent through the use of existing technologies. Against the US Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® program, nearly two-thirds of Midwest mills fall short of the national average for energy performance. Total annual energy costs could be reduced by $120 million by reducing process energy requirements, capturing waste heat and increasing efficient on-site energy use. This could also have a knock-on effect of boosting production and increasing jobs. The report highlights the ISO 50001 standard which helps companies to introduce and systematically track facility energy performance against targets.

TFT published the following statement on their website with the full report: ‘TFT has carried out a thorough technical study into alleged allegations of APP suppliers clearing forest in West Kalimantan Province and has produced the below report which shows no evidence of any violation of APP's forest clearance moratorium.’

APP has received SVLK timber legality certification on its ninth and final mill. Indonesia’s Timber Legality Assurance System (SVLK) ensures that all exported products are traceable to verifiable points of origin. The EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) under which SVLK has been developed is expected to become operational in 2013.

The actor and environmental activist Woody Harrelson is putting his support behind the construction of a $500 million tree-free paper mill in Canada which would produce straw-based paper. Prairie Pulp and Paper, the company behind the project, already produce a copy paper which is 80 per cent waste wheat straw. According to a study they commissioned this paper has a lower environmental impact than 100 per cent recycled paper. However, a representative of the Forest Products Association of Canada thinks wheat paper will be a niche product due to limited availability of waste wheat and the need for the strength and quality in paper that is provided by wood fibres.

The Forest Trust (TFT) has revealed that it is working with Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) on an overall framework for sustainability which includes and goes beyond legal compliance. TFT has previously worked successfully with Golden Agri Resources, Indonesia’s largest palm oil company which sits under the same ownership as APP. TFT plans to publish regular updates once it believes that APP is making significant progress.

The US House of Representatives will vote this week on a bill called the RELIEF Act (The Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Fairness Enforcement Act) which would significantly weaken the use of the Lacey Act to regulate against illegal logging by allowing manufacturers to keep illegal wood and limiting the species and country declaration requirements to solid wood (i.e. pulp and paper would be excluded). The article points to World Bank estimates which suggest that government and businesses suffer more than $10 billion in lost revenue each year due to illegal logging, $1 billion of which is lost by the US.

Production at the mill, which has a capacity of 240,000 tonnes, is being suspended indefinitely as of September 16th 2012 due to low price levels in the pulp market. Most of the pulp at the mill is shipped to Asia.

APP has announced that three of its mills in Java have achieved SVLK certification. The SVLK system creates a chain of custody process which aims to ensure that mills only receive and process timber from legal sources and that all export products can be traced to verifiable points of origin.

In a speech at CIFOR Indonesian President Yudhoyono admitted to mistakes in policy in the past which encouraged deforestation, but asserted that Indonesia is now set to become a leader in "sustainable forestry". However, CIFOR’s Daniel Murdiyarso pointed out several concerns which weren’t addressed by the speech, including the fact that a reduction in the deforestation rate does not correlate directly with a reduction in emissions: much of Indonesia’s deforestation is happening in carbon-dense peat forests which are targeted for palm oil estates and pulp and paper plantations and deforestation of these areas has a greater impact on emissions than deforestation in other areas.

In a speech at CIFOR Indonesian President Yudhoyono admitted to mistakes in policy in the past which encouraged deforestation, but asserted that Indonesia is now set to become a leader in "sustainable forestry". However, CIFOR’s Daniel Murdiyarso pointed out several concerns which weren’t addressed by the speech, including the fact that a reduction in the deforestation rate does not correlate directly with a reduction in emissions: much of Indonesia’s deforestation is happening in carbon-dense peat forests which are targeted for palm oil estates and pulp and paper plantations and deforestation of these areas has a greater impact on emissions than deforestation in other areas.

Press release from APP promoting its Sustainability Roadmap for 2020. Key milestones will include having the capacity to be wholly reliant on raw materials from plantations by 2015; all current APP suppliers operating by the High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) standards by 2015; and all current suppliers having credible certification for Sustainable Forest Management by 2020.

Further media coverage on APP’s new policy.

As part of its new policy, APP said it will suspend further natural forest clearance on the 1.1 million hectares of pulpwood concessions it owns until assessments have been carried out to identify areas of high conservation value forest (HCVF). APP will also be asking its independent suppliers, who control 1.6 million hectares to accept the key principles of HCVF and comply by 31st December 2014. On APP’s Rainforest Realities website, Aida Greenbury, Managing Director of Sustainability, said “It is the aim of APP’s policy to exclude HCVF from the supply chain”.

Further media coverage on APP’s new policy.

According to an Indonesian weekly news magazine the Ministry of Environment is preparing a civil suit against fourteen pulp and paper companies – twelve linked with APP and two with APRIL – for illegally clearing forests on Sumatra. The value of the timber only represents four per cent of the damages being claimed, the balance is for ‘ecological losses’. The Ministry of Forestry is opposing the lawsuit.

The company formerly known as AbitibiBowater has reported a 23% drop in its quarterly profit. It is currently involved in a takeover bid for rival pulp producer Fibrek. There was a major operating loss in its pulp segment with the average transaction price almost halved in the last year from $74 per metric ton to $38 per metric ton.

Central African Republic and Liberia become the fifth and sixth countries to sign Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) with the EU. Under the EU Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT), VPAs commit partner countries to establish systems and a licencing scheme to ensure only verified legal timber products (including pulp and paper) are exported from that country from 3rd March 2013 (globally; not just to EU member states). VPAs with Ghana and Cameroon are close to being signed and VPAs with four more countries are currently being negotiated.

Pacific West Commercial Corp are looking to reopen a NewPage paper mill which closed in September last year as it struggled with soaring electricity and shipping costs, a strong Canadian dollar and declining demand. Workers have voted through their union to accept a deal to work on a contract basis.