Environmental Best Practices in the Forest Cluster
Abstract
This study deals with the forest cluster of the European Union (EU) and aims at giving an overview of environmental best practices. Economy is stressed in the discussion on environmental practices. Strategies for the future and the age of the target plant also play an important role when defining best practices. Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the cluster as a whole and emissions to water from the pulp and paper industry are one of the biggest environmental concerns in the forest cluster. The printing industry appears to have the greatest potential to improve its environmental performance. Furthermore, on the papermaking side, a high potential for improvement of the environmental performance is related to dematerialization, which is one of the most neglected environmental issues in the paper industry. A possible analytical tool for comparing the environmental impact of virgin fiber and recycled fiber is briefly described.