Responsible Virgin Fibre - Environmental Paper Network

Chilean pulp mill’s major expansion could fuel conflicts

In Chile, Arauco, the country’s second largest pulp producer, has started building a new 1.56 million tonnes/year pulp line at its Horcones mill, in the Biobío region. This project, called MAPA, is problematic as it is likely to fuel land conflicts, especially with the indigenous Mapuche people. It is also expected to lead to an […]

Asia Pulp and Paper is planning a massive expansion of production in India. Where will the timber come from?

The growing demand for paper products in India has attracted the attention of the major Indonesian paper company, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) which is now planning to build new pulp & paper mill with the capacity of 5 million tons per year in Andhra Pradesh, India. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding […]

Asia Pulp and Paper admits links to controversial suppliers, but still fails to be transparent

A coalition of Indonesian and international NGOs released a report today bringing to light that Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) has acknowledged links to controversial suppliers but continues to fail to be transparent. The Indonesian paper giant recently released a document (APP Assessment on its Links with Industrial Forest Plantations in Indonesia) aimed to dispel […]

NGOs raise serious concerns six years into Asia Pulp and Paper’s commitment to reforms

Today, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) celebrates the sixth anniversary of APP’s Forest Conservation Policy (FCP). For six years NGOs have been monitoring the FCP implementation and providing suggestions for improvement of the policy as well as its implementation. With NGOs’ intervention, APP made an additional commitment, to conserve and restore 1 million hectares of […]

The Paper and Packaging Boom: A Growing Wave Of Pulp Production Threatens The World’s Forests And Climate

At a time when forest protection to fight climate change is a clear and critical opportunity, we are seeing plans and investments for quite the opposite. After over two years of stagnation, the virgin pulp industry is booming. The list that follows below, highlights the many specific examples of the virgin fibre pulp capacity expansion […]

More peatland fire disasters for Indonesia?

New report says pulp companies and government are not transparent with restoration plans for fire-prone peatlands, and its analysis shows the restoration obligations of pulp producers APP and APRIL. In 2016, the government of Indonesia announced a new regulation aimed to protect peatlands in response to the massive fires that burnt 2.6 million hectares of […]

New analysis of satellite images shows APP clearing reforested land and draining peat

Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) has been found in a new satellite imagery analysis by Foresthints.news to have exploited recovering tropical peatlands, which were previously drained by the company more than a decade ago, for pulpwood expansion. The practice of re-draining these recovering peatlands was carried out by PT Arara Abadi, an APP-owned company and timber […]

Indonesian communities say Asia Pacific Rayon represents a new threat to Riau peatlands

Asia Pacific Rayon (APR), a new company developed to produce viscose for the textile industry, is the sister company of the Indonesian pulp & paper giant APRIL (Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Ltd) and part of the conglomerate Royal Golden Eagle (RGE). APR built recently a new line to process Viscose Staple Fiber (VSF) – […]

APP and APRIL violate zero-deforestation policies with wood purchases from Djarum Group concessions in East Kalimantan

A new report from a coalition of non-profit organizations shows that global paper giants Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL) are violating their zero-deforestation policy. In addition, a few days ago the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) announced that it has decided to suspend the process to design a roadmap […]