Interaction Between Issues

The following questions (#72-88 in the Study) are intended to be addressed by this section of the Listening Study. If new questions or discussions arise that relate to how, or whether, to combine different environmental aspects in papers, they are welcome here.

72. Is there an optimal content standard featuring one or more of the available contents (virgin trees, recycled fiber, agricultural crops and residues, sustainably forested)?

73. Should papers be developed with only one environmental attribute or should they be combined?

74. Is there an appropriate hierarchy of preferred environmental contents?

75. Can chlorine free be combined with several different types of fiber contents in the same papers?

76. Should some environmental attributes "wait" until papers with other environmental attributes are more established in the markets?

77. Is there a problem with recycling papers with many different types of fiber contents?

78. What would an "environmentally sustainable paper industry" be composed of?

79. How should purchasers evaluate one environmental paper vs. another when they have different characteristics?

80. How can purchasers verify the environmental criteria in the papers they buy?

81. What certification and labeling programs exist and how extensive are they?

82. Can environmental criteria be reliably tested for, and should it be?

83. What roles do different levels of certification (first-, second- and third-party) play in meaningful and reliable labeling?

84. Are there other areas of manufacturing operations that could and should get credit for environmentally positive production (e.g. effluent-free, closed loop, energy efficiency, more)?

85. Is it possible and is it desirable to have a closed-loop mill?

86. What other criteria are important in minimizing or eliminating harmful environmental impacts from the paper industry?

87. Is it possible to create a completely environmentally positive paper production system?

88. What is the impact of heavy investment in trees by paper companies/forestry partners?

Later in the Study, we will prepare a report of the responses we receive on these questions.

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