What Does It Take to Build a Circular Economy?

A circular economy is based on recycling and reusing materials over and over again, turning the old into the new. A circular economy recaptures waste as a resource to produce new materials and enables resources to maintain their value longer. Learn more about what Sustana believes is key to building a successful circular economy.

Brand Provided | By Sustana | Published 2 years ago | About a 3 minute read

Developing a successful circular economy is no small task. It takes commitment and collaboration from municipalities, businesses and consumers alike. Since its inception, Sustana has taken numerous steps to partner with municipalities and businesses to help build and invest in the circular economy.

Over the course of several conversations with Triple Pundit, Sustana and its partners have shared their expertise on different sustainability strategies that contribute to the successful development of a circular economy. By turning the old into the new, Sustana is bringing fiber and paper products full circle to enhance the future for business, the planet and society.

Biogas’ Potential in the Circular Economy

It is critical that companies combine their current strategies with new ideas to better support the circular economy, such as the use of biogas from landfills. Rolland Paper, a subsidiary of Sustana, was an early adopter of biogas and since 2004 has been leveraging it to power 93% of the mill’s thermal energy needs. Read more here.

Paper Recyclers Rise to Meet Challenges

As consumers view recyclable paper products as a more environmentally friendly solution than plastics, manufacturers are tasked with creating new paper cups, cartons and other items. Many of these items may include moisture-proof coatings which then may be more challenging to recycle. Sustana Fiber not only works closely with its partners to innovate and develop technology that can effectively recycle these products, but educates manufactures and consumers about paper recycling and recyclability. Read more here.

How Recycled Paper Makes for Better Branding

There is an ever-growing consumer preference for environmentally friendly products. One of the most challenging areas to make the change to recyclable paper products is direct-contact food and beverage packaging, as it must be FDA compliant. Innovative products such as Sustana Fiber’s EnviroLife® allows brands to meet consumers’ demands with packaging that is comprised of 100% sustainable recycled fiber and is compliant with FDA standards. Read more here.

Sustainability through Packaging

Due to the rise in e-commerce and an increased consumer demand for eco-conscious packaging, businesses are looking for ways to make their current packaging more sustainable. Sustana works closely with its partners in order to minimize the use of non-recyclable materials in packaging, making it easier for recycling facilities to sort and process the materials. Read more here.

Scaling Recycling for Paper Coffee Cups

In the US alone, 54 billion single-use paper coffee cups are used each year and only a portion of them are getting recycled due to the plastic coating that lines the inside of the cups. As the recycling process and technology have advanced, the opportunity to recycle paper cups is becoming more accessible. For years, Sustana has invested in innovation that allows it to recycle paper cups and other containers at its facilities. Sustana also continues to partner with municipalities to make the technology more widely available, and in turn educate consumers that they can recycle paper coffee cups with a poly-coated layer. These efforts to scale and expand this technology will help make paper cup recycling more accessible, keeping valuable, high-quality fiber as part of the circular economy. Read more here.

Learn more about the steps Sustana is taking to achieve a circular economy for a more sustainable future for business, our planet and society at sustanafiber.com and rollandinc.com.