AF&PA outlines 2020 advocacy goals

Biomass, recycling, regulatory reform and transportation infrastructure are the top advocacy priorities that the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), Washington, will be pursuing in 2020.

“President Trump and the U.S. Congress recently made great strides in finalizing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, and we are grateful for this commitment to ensuring free and fair cross-border trade,” says AF&PA President and CEO Heidi Brock. “Paper and paper-based packaging are the most-recycled materials by weight from municipal waste streams in the United States, and AF&PA will support policies that allow this environmental success story to continue. Policy conversations related to biomass, paper recycling, regulatory reform and transportation infrastructure should strengthen our industry’s ability to provide consumers with recyclable, renewable and sustainable paper products.”

Mark Sutton, International Paper CEO and AF&PA board chair, adds, “As challenges related to waste continue to be discussed nationwide, we ask that elected officials recognize paper is part of the circular solution.” 

According to a news release from AF&PA, the following are the association’s 2020 advocacy priorities:

• Carbon neutrality of biomass: Paper and wood products manufacturers use as much of the tree as possible to make paper, packaging and wood products, while remaining residuals are used as a renewable energy source (biomass) to power mills. AF&PA plans to advocate for science-based policies that acknowledge the carbon neutrality of biomass and provide regulatory certainty to level the playing field for global competition and the protection of rural American jobs.

• Continued success for paper recycling at state and federal levels: Efforts to ban, tax or restrict access to paper products discourages the use of products that are recyclable, compostable, reusable and made from renewable and recyclable material. AF&PA supports Sen. Rob Portman and Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s Recycling Enhancements to Collection and Yield through Consumer Learning and Education Act (RECYCLE Act), which recognizes that educating consumers on the right ways to recycle is one of the best ways to increase the quantity and quality of paper in the recycling stream.

• Regulatory reform: U.S. paper and wood products manufacturers have spent billions of dollars on regulatory compliance and are estimated to spend billions in new capital expenditures over the next decade. Measures that streamline the permit process and reduce cost and uncertainty of regulations remain a top priority.

• Transportation infrastructure: Paper and wood products manufacturers face a nationwide shortage of transportation capacity, aging infrastructure and inefficient surface transportation policies. As a result, connecting the industry’s products, raw materials and consumers is difficult. AF&PA aims to encourage necessary infrastructure enhancements, increasing truck weight limits on federal interstate highways and freight rail system reforms that prioritize shippers’ concerns.

Additionally, AF&PA reports that it plans to remain engaged in important advocacy discussions related to international trade and climate policy.