CEPI honors paper industry employees for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic

Brussels-based CEPI, the European paper industry association, and its members across Europe are paying tribute to their employees and to transport operators ensuring deliveries of paper products across Europe.

The association says that thanks to the industry’s 180,000 direct employees, the majority of paper mills are running in the European Union, ensuring that citizens have access to the hygiene, health and food supplies they need during the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Our industry leaders took all necessary measures to guarantee the safety and health of their people: We raised safety arrangements and adopted working shifts as well as social distancing measures, we started dialogues with worker unions to adjust working conditions, taking their concerns into account,” CEPI says.

“Our industry is also supporting the fight against COVID-19 by producing masks, materials for test kits or filters for respiratory devices,” the association continues. “All forces need to be united to produce in Europe for Europe the much-needed health care and medical goods.”

“With our tribute video  #togetheragainstcoronavirus, we would like to thank our employees for their determination and commitment, we wish to honor the efforts of our staff and are very proud of the solutions that we can bring to EU citizens in these exceptional circumstances,” says Jori Ringman, CEPI director general.

The association also is honoring waste haulers who are playing an essential role collecting paper at the municipal level for recycling. Without separate collection of paper for recycling from households and supermarkets, we would face severe disruptions to our value chain, as recycled fibers are an essential part of our supply chain, CEPI says.

“We are looking forward to support[ing] the recovery of Europe when the pandemic will be over, which should be a green recovery. We call the EU to rethink its EU Industrial policy and to start aligning its economic response to the virus with its Green Deal,” Ringman adds.