The Structural Characteristics Of The Pulp And Paper Sector

This book presents an historical analysis of the global paper industry evolution from a comparative perspective. At the centre are 16 producing countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, the USA, Germany, Canada, Japan, the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and Russia). A comparative study of the paper industry evolution can achieve the following important research objectives. First, we can identify the country specific historical features of paper industry evolution and compare them to the general business trends explicable by existing theoretical knowledge. Second, we can identify and isolate the factors causing both the rise and fall of industrial populations. Third, a shared research agenda can produce an intensive analysis of global industry dynamics. Finally, an extended research period of 250 years can identify what is truly unique in the paper industry evolution and the extent to which it took the same path as other important manufacturing industries.

The problems recyclers face with wastepaper are connected to the issues addressed by forest advocates, as well as to the difficulties confronted by those involved with industrial pollution from the paper industry. In this richly detailed study, Maureen Smith shows how industrial and environmental analysis can be synthesized to clarify these complex problems and produce solutions. Smith outlines the basic structural characteristics of the U.S. pulp and paper industry and its relationship to the larger forest products sector, as well as its patterns of domestic and global fiber resource use. She then reviews the core technologies employed in virgin pulp production, with an emphasis on their environmental impacts, the role of technological innovation, and the relationships between fiber choices and pollution prevention. Building on this base she reveals structural barriers within the industry that have impeded positive change and shows how these barriers are reinforced by the traditional isolation of environmental policy domains.The study includes a comparative analysis of how organochlorine pollution from pulp mills has been addressed in the United States, Europe, and Canada (and why the United States has seen the slowest rate of progress); an assessment of commodity trade patterns in the industry and how they are linked to resource demand; an examination of the momentum building around annual plant fiber use and the diverse interests it reflects; and a review of recent developments in paper recycling within the context of historical trends in fiber utilization. A case study of the controversial environmental review process of the largest recycled pulp and paper mill ever proposed ties together earlier elements of the book and forms the basis for the conclusions. In closing, Smith argues convincingly against narrowly focused attempts to "fix" the problems associated with the industry, and offers practical guidance on new frameworks and approaches for industrial restructuring. She highlights the need for regional perspectives that integrate environmental, social, and economic objectives. Urban and Industrial Environment series

The Structure of European Industry is a collection of essays on the economic organization of industrial sectors in Europe, which may serve either of policy makers in business and in Government; and staff and students at Universities. The first group increasingly needs a focus on the longer-term developments of European industry, now that the positive (growth) effects of the economic integration of the sixties have worn off. Restructuring is the current catch word and nobody can deny the necessity and urgency of the task. But it has become a day-to-day affair and there may be a loss of perspective. The second group is growing up in an international environment and should be equipped accordingly. Many-faceted tasks are involved with serving either depending on the problems which differ according to industries. And here the bewildering complexity of the European industrial scenery strikes. Some of these industries are old fashioned; some are new; some are national in orientation; some have become integrated; some have a competitive structure; some are cartellized or heavily concentrated; some have been interfered with by national Governments, others were free from such policing; etc. Moreover, a number of industries show various combinations of these and other facets at the same time.

Industrial Environmental Performance Metrics is a corporate-focused analysis that brings clarity and practicality to the complex issues of environmental metrics in industry. The book examines the metrics implications to businesses as their responsibilities expand beyond the factory gateâ€"upstream to suppliers and downstream to products and services. It examines implications that arise from greater demand for comparability of metrics among businesses by the investment community and environmental interest groups. The controversy over what sustainable development means for businesses is also addressed. Industrial Environmental Performance Metrics identifies the most useful metrics based on case studies from four industriesâ€"automotive, chemical, electronics, and pulp and paperâ€"and includes specific corporate examples. It contains goals and recommendations for public and private sector players interested in encouraging the broader use of metrics to improve industrial environmental performance and those interested in addressing the tough issues of prioritization, weighting of metrics for meaningful comparability, and the longer term metrics needs presented by sustainable development.

This volume provides insights into the environmental practices of five industry sectors: materials processing, manufacturing, electric utilities, and pulp and paper. The ecology of industry is presented in terms of systems of production and consumption, taking into account the flows of material, energy, capital, and information. The book examines ways to improve the environmental performance of these industries (and others, such as the service sector) and shows how decisions made by industry managers can leverage systemic environmental improvements elsewhere in the economy.

This book covers both basic and applied sciences in a rather specified area of pulp and paper manufacture. The basic science of lignocellulose enzymology and plant genetics is covered also in many other contexts, whereas the application of biotechnology in process and product development is thoroughly reviewed. All the latest advances as well as new ideas of the research field are covered. This book will serve as an updated and compact information package of biotechnical aspects and the most recent advances of the pulp and paper industry sector.