At Australian Paper we are proud of our performance as a leading Australian manufacturer, delivering quality locally made products from sustainably managed, renewable wood resources. Australian Paper employs more than 1000 people in regional Victoria and is the largest generator of renewable energy in Victoria.
Almost half of the office paper used in Australia each year is imported from Indonesia, China and Thailand. The majority of this imported paper is made from wood which is not third party certified for sustainable forest management.
Australian made office paper is a sustainably managed local alternative to imported papers.
Australian Paper
- Australian Paper manufactures around 90% of the recycled and carbon neutral office paper which is sold in Australia each year.
- Australian Paper does not own any forest assets but sources all fibre from responsibly managed external suppliers.
- Australian Paper is third party certified under both the Australian Forestry Standard (globally recognised by the PEFC) and the FSC® and is the only local manufacturer of office paper.
- More than half of our total fibre needs are met from plantation wood, recycled pulp and wastepaper from kerbside collections.
- The remainder is sourced through VicForests which is a Victorian Government enterprise responsible for the sustainable harvest and commercial sale of wood from state forests.
Almost 90% of Victoria’s native forests are not available or suitable for timber harvesting
- Native timber harvesting in Victoria is one of the most strictly regulated industries in Australia and VicForests operates within a detailed and comprehensive legal framework.
- Victoria has 7.8 million hectares of native forest. 4.7 million hectares or 60% is protected in national parks and conservation reserves.
- Less than 0.1% of Victoria’s native forests are harvested each year. After harvesting, forested areas are replanted with the same species that naturally occurred on that site.
- All of the wood supplied to Australian Paper’s operations in Maryvale is a by-product of operations to produce high quality sawlog.
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Carbon and Sustainable Wood Harvesting
- The Federal Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency recognises that deforestation accounts for almost 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
- Sustainable forest management, including timber harvesting, is NOT deforestation.
- VicForests regenerates the forest in all areas where harvesting takes place to ensure the trees grow back following its operations.
- Regenerating forests store carbon from the atmosphere while, at the same time, timber and paper products continue to store carbon for the life of the product.
Melbourne’s Water Catchments
- Melbourne’s water catchments cover 157 000 hectares across the State and public access to these areas is tightly restricted to protect water quality.
- The majority of Melbourne’s water comes from areas where no timber harvesting occurs and public access is not permitted.
- VicForests is permitted to harvest timber in a very small percentage of Melbourne’s catchment areas – under strict environmental guidelines.
- Harvesting currently takes place in approximately 180ha, or just over 0.1% of these catchments, each year.
- These operations are audited on a regular basis by Melbourne Water and DSE. Independent auditors also assess these operations as part of the Australian Forestry Standards accreditation process.
- All old growth Ash forest in Melbourne’s catchment areas is fully protected.
- The greatest threat to water yield and quality in Melbourne's water catchments is from fire.
Protecting flora and fauna
- Of the 7.8 million hectares of native forest in Victoria, almost 90% are unavailable or unsuitable for timber harvesting operations.
- VicForests’ staff undertake field surveys in all areas prior to harvesting to detect potential Leadbeater’s Possum habitat.
- Where an area meets the criteria for Leadbeater’s Possum habitat an exclusion zone is put in place and no timber harvesting operations are permitted in that area.
- An extensive conservation reserve system also exists within the Central Highlands region designed to protect Leadbeater’s Possum habitat and other important environmental features. No timber harvesting is permitted within these reserves.
- The best known areas of Leadbeater’s Possum habitat not already in the reserve system were included as part of new reserves in 2008.
- In addition to this reserve system, VicForests inspects areas proposed for harvesting to identify the presence of hollow bearing trees and determine whether these meet key habitat criteria for the species.
- The retention of habitat trees, seed trees and buffer zones, along with the creation of special protection zones, are also designed to protect native flora and fauna.
- As a further safeguard, Australian Paper does not accept old growth trees or sawmill residues from old growth timber for its operations.
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