Celebrating the second European Paper Bag Day

19 October 2019


After a successful launch in 2018, the European Paper Bag Day entered the second round on 18 October 2019 with many different activities and celebrations throughout Europe.

The annual action day was initiated by the platform The Paper Bag, the association of Europe’s leading kraft paper manufacturers and paper bag producers, to celebrate paper carrier bags as sustainable and functional packaging that are reliable shopping companions and contribute to fighting climate change. Everyone is welcome to join the activities and discussions.

“Against the background of the sustainable and circular approach of the EU’s bio-economy strategy, we aim at encouraging consumers to combine their personal packaging choices with a good choice for the environment,” explains Kennert Johansson, Acting Secretary General of CEPI Eurokraft. “By celebrating the European Paper Bag Day we want to raise awareness to the advantages of paper carrier bags as sustainable packaging that contribute to reducing littering and environmental pollution.”

In Europe, paper bags are sourced from sustainably managed forests. Thanks to the continuous replanting of trees, Europe has had a positive net change in forest area during the last 25 years. During this period, the forest area has increased by 17.5 million hectares. This corresponds to almost half of the area of Italy.

Sustainable forest management maintains biodiversity and ecosystems and provides habitat for wildlife, recreational areas and jobs. Moreover, trees act as a carbon sink, which makes them effective to mitigate climate change.

Activities

On behalf of The Paper Bag many different activities took place around 18 October throughout Europe and on social media channels. In Spain, the La bolsa de papel group will visit the minister of environment to draw attention to the advantages of paper carrier bags. In Italy, the Milan-based Gruppo Shopping Bags will launch a video on social media to educate consumers about the reusability and recyclability of paper bags. In Ponte San Nicolò, Sacchettificio Nazionale G. Corazza invited employees’ families and citizens to open house tours of their paper sack production facility, conduct a flash mob and provide schools with paper sacks for waste collection.

To raise attention towards sustainable forestry as a central element of the value chain of paper bags, Mondi provided seedlings in reusable paper bags and carry out forestation activities with the employees and local communities of their mills in Poland, Sweden, Austria, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. The Segezha Group distributed paper bags for free during The Golden Turtle International Wildlife Art & Photography exhibitio in Moscow, Russia.



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