- Mittwoch, 16. Mai 2007 14.00 – 18.30 Uhr In meinem Kalender speichern
<b>Sustainable Pulp Production in Latin America – just another pulp fiction? </b>
PAPER FOR THE WORLD - PROBLEMS FOR THE REGION!
In order to produce paper the raw material pulp is needed. For pulp you need to cut down many trees and use a lot of water. Usually we do not think about that when we waste paper. But we should – as the case of Fray Bentos shows:
Fray Bentos was just a quiet city in Uruguay – until the Finnish paper company Botnia came to build a huge pulp mill. Now Fray Bentos stands for a diplomatic crisis between Uruguay and Argentina. Since the mill – approved by Uruguay – is on the one side of the boarder river and Argentina is on the other side of the Río de la Plata this conflict will not be solved easily. Not to forget that the root of the conflict is a large-scale pulp production by a European Company that is not sustainable at all.
Most in Europe do not see the dark side of bleached paper, which is the polluted air and water from the plants. Nor do they realize how harmful monoculture, which is used to have just in time the right amount of trees, can be for an ecosystem. They just take the cheap paper and the business profits for granted and leave the pollution and the waste to those who need jobs and a little GDP growth. Since the Green / EFA and the Heinrich Böll Foundation disagree with this model of production/consumption a conference on the case of Fray Bentos and its impacts will take place at the European Parliament. It will raise the following questions:
1. What is a sustainable way to produce pulp and what standards have to be implemented?
2. How can the EU and its member states ensure that European Companies implement adequate standards – no matter where they produce?
3. What responsibility does the European Consumer have and how can he or she face these responsibilities?
Several experts and state officials will discuss the issue in a conference in order to find out how sustainable pulp production is possible or if it is just another pulp fiction.
Fray Bentos was just a quiet city in Uruguay – until the Finnish paper company Botnia came to build a huge pulp mill. Now Fray Bentos stands for a diplomatic crisis between Uruguay and Argentina. Since the mill – approved by Uruguay – is on the one side of the boarder river and Argentina is on the other side of the Río de la Plata this conflict will not be solved easily. Not to forget that the root of the conflict is a large-scale pulp production by a European Company that is not sustainable at all.
Most in Europe do not see the dark side of bleached paper, which is the polluted air and water from the plants. Nor do they realize how harmful monoculture, which is used to have just in time the right amount of trees, can be for an ecosystem. They just take the cheap paper and the business profits for granted and leave the pollution and the waste to those who need jobs and a little GDP growth. Since the Green / EFA and the Heinrich Böll Foundation disagree with this model of production/consumption a conference on the case of Fray Bentos and its impacts will take place at the European Parliament. It will raise the following questions:
1. What is a sustainable way to produce pulp and what standards have to be implemented?
2. How can the EU and its member states ensure that European Companies implement adequate standards – no matter where they produce?
3. What responsibility does the European Consumer have and how can he or she face these responsibilities?
Several experts and state officials will discuss the issue in a conference in order to find out how sustainable pulp production is possible or if it is just another pulp fiction.