Rethinking Paper-Based Packaging: A Global Issue

Consumers around the world are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of packaging, but our power to choose how products are packaged is limited. Individual choices only go so far. Systemic change is needed, and that requires collective action, through organizing, advocacy, and coordinated efforts across movements.

Across the globe, organizations working on forest conservation, biodiversity protection, zero waste, plastics reduction, and environmental justice are aligning around a shared message: the solution is not to switch from plastic to paper, but to reduce single-use packaging overall. 

Despite global commitments to halt deforestation and forest degradation, the pulp and paper industry continues to expand at a rapid pace. New investments are driving the construction of production facilities across South America, Southeast Asia, Europe, and beyond. Our mapping highlights this trend, tracking planned and proposed increases in global pulp production capacity.

Much of this growth is being driven by single-use paper packaging, used for everything from takeout food to e-commerce deliveries. In Europe, paper packaging waste per person rose by over 13.4 kilograms between 2012 and 2022, representing a 21% increase over a decade. This trend is mirrored in other regions.

Behind this boom are serious environmental and human costs. The pulp and paper industry is one of the most polluting and water-intensive industries on the planet. It consumes around four percent of global energy and relies heavily on toxic chemicals, which pollute rivers and harm ecosystems. Perhaps most starkly, it displaces communities and damages local livelihoods through the expansion of monoculture tree plantations. Our work with partners in countries such as Chile, Indonesia, Sweden, Finland, and Portugal reveals a trail of ecological and social harm left by this growing industry.

At the same time, paper remains a vital material that has transformed societies. But we are using it in profoundly unequal ways. In high-income countries, paper is often used for disposable packaging that is thrown away after a single use, while in lower-income regions, many people still lack essential paper-based goods like books, hygiene products, and learning materials. Reducing throwaway paper consumption is part of creating a more just and equitable global paper system.

Even in wealthier regions, the burden of managing so much packaging waste often falls on consumers and municipalities, not the companies profiting from and responsible for its production. As companies continue to justify throwaway paper packaging as the ‘cost-effective’ solution to single-use plastic, new policies such as the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation represent a critical opportunity to shift to systems that prioritize reduction and reuse, rather than simply replacing one disposable material with another.