EPN Reports & Publications

Welcome to the Environmental Paper Network’s Reports & Publications page.

Find all reports, briefings, factsheets, and other publications authored, or co-authored, by the Environmental Paper Network or the Biomass Action Network. For additional resources on biomass, including from partner organisations, please see our Biomass Info Library.

If you have any suggestions for resources we should have in this library or any comments about it, please contact us.

Disposable Paper-based Food Packaging: the false solution to the packaging waste crisis

This report highlights that disposable paper-based food packaging is not a sustainable alternative to plastic. It exposes the environmental harms of paper packaging, including deforestation, high water and energy consumption, chemical contamination, and poor recyclability, urging policymakers to prioritize waste reduction over material substitution.

View Report

Date: September 2023

Topics: Deforestation, Food Packaging, Packaging, Plastic

Modernizing ERISA Health Plan Communications: E-Delivery vs. Paper Mandates

Outdated federal policies mandate the printing and mailing of paper notices, needlessly wasting billions of sheets of paper each year. With one simple rule change, the U.S. Department of Labor could eliminate the printing and mailing of an estimated 11.4 billion sheets of paper each year.

View Report

Date: July 2023

Topics: E-Delivery, ERISA, Paper Reduction, US Policy

Zero Waste Heroes

This report by EPN and Fern highlights businesses adopting reusable packaging, the challenges they face, and the need for stronger legislation to support reuse over single-use systems.

View Report

Date: June 2023

Topics: Legislation, Packaging, Reuse, Zero Waste

Biomass carbon accounting is no longer fit for purpose

A peculiarity of UNFCCC and IPCC carbon accounting and reporting methodology is leading to unfair attribution of emissions from large-scale bioenergy, contributing to climate colonialism.

View Report Spanish French

Date: June 2023

Topics: Biomass, Carbon Accounting, Climate Justice, IPCC, UNFCCC

Pulping Borneo

Despite its well-publicized commitment to ‘No Deforestation’, Indonesia’s Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) Group still has deforestation in its pulp supply chain. RGE is also now linked to a new mega-scale pulp mill under construction in northeast Kalimantan, which is expected to threaten some of the world’s largest tropical rainforests.

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Date: May 2023

Topics: Borneo, Deforestation, Indonesia, Pulp Mill, Royal Golden Eagle

Unwrapping a Disaster: The human cost of overpackaging

Facts, figures, and case studies illustrate why paper packaging is not a sustainable alternative to plastic and why reducing our packaging footprint is essential to protect forests, people and the climate.

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Date: April 2023

Topics: Climate, Deforestation, Human Cost, Packaging

EU rules on packaging: NGO perspectives on the urgent need to reduce paper packaging

This briefing from EPN, Fern, Zero Waste Europe and the Rethink Plastic Alliance critiques the rise of paper packaging as a substitute for single-use plastics, highlighting the environmental and social harms of increased paper use, and calls for stronger regulations to prioritize waste reduction and reusable systems.

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Date: April 2023

Topics: EU, NGO, Packaging, Plastics, Waste Reduction

Briefing for Smurfit Kappa Shareholders

The briefing outlines allegations against Smurfit Kappa, a multinational paper and cardboard producer, for environmental and human rights violations in Colombia’s Cauca region. The 41 signatories call on Smurfit Kappa, the Colombian and Irish governments, and the European Union to take action.

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Date: April 2023

Topics: Colombia, Human Rights, Shareholder, Smurfit Kappa

Piling on the pressure: The impacts of the pulp and paper industry’s domination of the biomass electricity market in Portugal

EPN, Quercus, Acréscimo, Iris, and Biofuelwatch expose the harmful impacts of burning forest biomass in Portugal’s pulp mills, and call for an end to subsidies that incentivize inefficiency, contribution to carbon emissions, and wildfire risks.

View Report

Date: March 2023

Topics: Biomass, Portugal, Pulp Mill, Subsidies, Wildfire