Sustainability Metrics & Benchmarking

Scorecards

In recent years, a number of programs, tools and “scorecards” have been developed around the world to assist paper purchasers and other stakeholders in understanding the environmental attributes of paper products. The forest products industry has participated in the development of some of these products, but many others have been initiated by customers, governments or other stakeholders without the direct involvement of the industry. To the extent that these tools rely on scientific information for their foundation, NCASI has assisted members in reviewing the initiatives for technical accuracy, particularly related to nuanced aspects of high significance to the sector such as biomass carbon, recycled fiber, land use, and biodiversity.

Examples of these types of initiatives include:

  • The Environmental Paper Assessment Tool (EPAT) – GreenBlue
  • The Paper Calculator – Environmental Paper Network
  • Wal-Mart’s Sustainable Packaging Scorecard
  • The WWF Paper Scorecard

Member companies needing technical information regarding the methodologies behind these, and other, stakeholder-oriented tools should contact Kirsten Vice, Vice President – Sustainability & Climate Program and Canadian Operations.

Relevant NCASI Publications

NCASI provides direct assistance to member companies on these types of programs, and thus there are relatively few NCASI publications related to paper and wood product “scorecards.”

That said, in August 2007, NCASI published Special Report No. 07-06, Comparative Review of Environmental Labelling Programs. In this report, NCASI describes and reviews a selection of these programs to assist the industry in understanding the various approaches being used and to provide a basis for considering options to address the growing environmental awareness of the marketplace.

In addition, NCASI staff reviewed the current version of the EPN Paper Calculator to evaluate the significance of changes made since NCASI’s previous review, conducted in summer 2011 (Changes to EPN Paper Calculator since NCASI’s 2011 Review).

NCASI has also developed a website, the Environmental Footprint Comparison Tool, that helps convey the interactions between environmental parameters when a company undertakes action to minimize environmental releases. When one release is minimized, other releases may be concurrently minimized (“co-benefits”) or other releases may be concurrently increased (“trade-offs”). The balancing act inherent in seeking maximum co-benefits and minimum trade-offs is succinctly illustrated through the videos and pop-ups that complement the detailed informational text on the site.