Cepi Containerboard and the European Federation of Corrugated Board Manufacturers (Fefco) have released their European Database for Corrugated Board Life Cycle Studies 2021 to highlight essential developments and efforts undertaken by the European corrugated board industry and its paper suppliers to reduce environmental effects.
One of the aspects presented, among others, is the use of recycled material for the production of new corrugated board packaging, which came to an average of 88% in the year 2021. Further improvements in environmental parameters include an 18% reduction of the consumption of wood and a 4% cut in recovered paper consumption. Moreover, the industry cut down its use of fossil fuels by 5% and reduced its NO and SO₂ emissions by 28% and 33%, respectively. The 2021 issue covers a substantial part of the sector, representing 84% of the total annual production of kraftliner and semi-chemical fluting, and 74% of the production of testliner and recycled fluting. This figure averages 73% for corrugated board. Europe’s corrugated board industry is comprised of 373 companies running 646 plants, which have a total annual production volume of 50 billion m2.
