Two Sides, a global organisation that promotes the attractiveness and sustainability of paper, welcomes Smurfit Kappa, one of the world’s leading packaging companies, as a new member.
With increasing consumer concern and media scrutiny on packaging and, in particular, single-use plastics, the world is looking for more sustainable solutions. A recent nationally-representative survey of UK adults, conducted by Two Sides and international research agency Toluna, found paper & cardboard to be the most preferred packaging material for environmental-friendliness, recyclability and practicality. However, this research also shows that consumers perceive paper and cardboard to cause forest loss and do not understand the industry’s high recycling rates.
Two Sides provides fact-based information to reassure consumers that paper and cardboard is the sustainable choice. With a recycling rate of 83%, paper and cardboard are amongst the most recycled materials in the world – the highest of any packaging material. Furthermore, between 2005 and 2015 forests in Europe, which provide wood for making paper and packaging materials, grew by 44,000 square kilometres – that’s an area bigger than the size of Switzerland and amounts to over 1,500 football pitches everyday.
Two Sides is a global initiative by companies from the graphic communications industry including forestry, pulp, paper, inks and chemicals, pre-press, press, finishing, publishing, printing, envelopes and postal operators. Their common goal is to promote the sustainability of the graphic communications and packaging industry and dispel common environmental misconceptions by providing users with verifiable information on why print, paper and cardboard is an attractive, practical and sustainable solution.