2011 has been designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Forests. This is because forests play a critical role in protecting the health of our planet, says Danna Smith, executive director of the Dogwood Alliance, a nonprofit that works to protect the country’s southern forests. Wrote Smith in a recent editorial: “From supporting biodiversity to renewing and filtering water supplies, preventing floods, and removing carbon from the atmosphere, forests are essential for life on earth. Yet, despite their immense value, forest destruction is accelerating and today accounts for 20 percent of global carbon emissions. That’s more carbon than is released from all the cars on the road.

Smith cites a recent report from proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finding that the U.S. leads the world in percentage of forest cover loss, attributing much of that loss to industrial logging in the South, where 2 percent of the world’s forests produce about 20% of the world’s wood and paper products. Smith also discusses efforts to shift energy production from fossil fuels to wood. “Though recent reports suggest such a switch could double logging rates across Southern states, increase carbon emissions pose even more of a health threat than burning coal,” she said. “President Barack Obama in his most recent State of the Union address advocated for more investments in wood-burning energy facilities. Last month the EPA decided not to regulate carbon emissions from wood-burning power plants for the next three years.”

Smith wonders if this is, indeed a “model we want for the future” but adds that there’s hope in the growing public concern and in the way big companies such as Staples, Home Depot and Coca-Cola are stepping up to the plate with a program called Carbon Canopy, described as a “new model to spur investment in forest conservation to enable southern landowners to generate revenue from leaving more trees (and carbon) in the woods.”

We need more mills like our GreenDustries – Raon paper mill in combination with a recycling plant witch produce high quality recycled papers and PE granules. We are pioneer and specialist in giving added value to waste paper. By  reducing impacts on environment and on natural resources, it registers entirely in the logic of lasting development. Recycling creates jobs; it constitutes a chain of activities. Recycling is a factor of industrial location. Recycling is a factor of green growth. At Raon we use post industrial waste to make our papers. Our in-house recycling facility separate all elements of the raw materials, which are all are recycled and converted to papers and PE for plastic recycling products. We focus on a Cradle to Cradle concept, in which all the waste collected and recycled materials are re position in the market as high end and high quality products. We optimize the full cycle.

GreenDustries joins the ranks of companies across the globe that are throwing out old strategies and economic models and building on new foundations that, like the trees they are saving, build from the ground up. Sensible platforms combined with empathy, intelligence and awareness are what’s needed to drive the future. As smith said: “It’s time to toss out old economic models based solely on resource  extraction in favor of a new forest economy that values healthy forests for all the important climate, water, community and wildlife benefits they provide. Through waste reduction, recycling, energy conservation and a focus on truly clean sources of energy such as solar and wind we can chart a new path.”

It’s not just about pretty packaging. It’s about smart packaging, from the point at which the waste paper is harvested to the time it is unwrapped by a customer. That’s what GreenDustries is great at, look at our products the PleatPak and Magic Bag. It is the perfect result of a green sustainable business, from recycled waste to the consumer market.