ADVERTORIAL
Special issue
A sustainable THINKING
JOURNEY T
he path to sustainability has been continuous for REY; it’s a ride the brand takes incredibly seriously and which has no specific end point – it’s a constant endeavour to improve. REY is one of the leading European brands of Sylvamo, the new group originating from International Paper’s global papers business as of 1 October 2021. Positioned as ‘The Conscious Choice’, the REY brand underwent a significant transformation in 2019 and has proactively enhanced its environmental footprint ever since. Today, REY’s entire white office range is, as a standard, available with 100% paper packaging. It’s climate neutral and 100% sustainably sourced.
Gerald Demets
www.opi.net
REY promotes three core brand values as part of its sustainability focus: plastic-free packaging, climate neutrality and sustainable sourcing
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NO PLASTICS Most recently, the brand has taken further steps in strengthening its sustainability engagement by making its ream packaging completely plastic free. Gerald Demets, Director Sales, Marketing & Innovation EMEA of Sylvamo, comments: “Around 95% of office paper wrappers still contain a thin polyethylene layer; it’s invisible plastic that acts as a moisture barrier. Our goal was to eliminate this use of plastic completely from the REY ream, so we have brought to market a new material to replace the plastic layer with a renewable and recyclable wood-based solution with the same look and feel. It’s strong enough to protect the paper during transport and storage, and contains the same humidity resistance. It’s quite simply a smarter, greener solution.” Key benefits of switching to a plastic-free wrapper mean that the base material is biodegradable and compostable, made from renewable, responsibly sourced fibres, is FSC or PEFC certified. The advantage is that the
wrappers can go straight into the paper bin without hesitation. The new paper wrapper will be used for the REY white range which is now being produced at Sylvamo’s Saillat mill in France. THE IMPORTANCE OF CLIMATE NEUTRALITY In addition to removing unnecessary plastic from its packaging, REY is also responding to another consumer concern: our planet and global warming. The brand has decided to make its entire white paper range climate neutral. Demets is quick to point out that the company chose to go down the climate – as opposed to carbon – neutral path. He says: “Climate neutral was chosen over ‘carbon neutral’ or ‘CO2 neutral’ because there are four types of greenhouse gases responsible for climate change. REY offsets all emissions linked to its sourcing, production and distribution activities, through third party certified projects. “In collaboration with external expert Climate Partner, we are offsetting every single tonne of greenhouse gas emissions we can’t avoid along the lifecycle of our white paper products.” One of these projects is REY’s support of the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve in Indonesia. It is the world’s first REDD+ project validated for its impact on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (Editor’s note: REDD+ is a United Nations-backed framework that aims to curb climate change by stopping the destruction of forests. REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation). It protects 65,000 hectares of tropical peat swamp forest in Central Kalimantan, Borneo, and preserves 300 species of birds, 122 species of mammals and 180 species of trees and plants. It also improves the livelihoods of local communities in nine nearby villages. Overall, REY promotes three core brand values as part of its sustainability focus: plastic-free packaging, climate neutrality and sustainable sourcing. There’s plenty to be done yet, says Demets, with the journey being a considerable part of the destination. For more information, visit www.rey-paper.com
