The European paper industry's fourth Sustainability Report published in November reported a decrease in specific emission of CO2 per tonne of paper produced by 42% since 1990.

Published by Brussels-based Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), the report shows that even during difficult economic times the paper industry has a good track record as a sustainable sector in Europe and that it is delivering on its targets and indicators set in previous Sustainability Reports. The report includes information on water use, product responsibility and profitability as well as updated indicators including raw material consumption, legal logging and biodiversity.

Examples of the industry's achievements illustrated in this report include:

• The fact that the paper industry was the only industrial sector to reduce emissions under the EU Emissions Trading System in 2008 vs. 2007.
• A reduction in the levels of both CO2 and NOx emissions.
• 94.32% of electricity produced through combined heat and power (CHP) in the total on-site production.
• A recycling rate increase to 66.6%, higher than the target set for 2010.
• Primary energy use reduced by 2.9%.
• 54.4 % of energy used is biomass-based, an increase of 1.5% since 2007.www.cepi.org .