The Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill acted as an initiator and one of the organizers of the First Research-to-Practice Conference “The environmental aspects of modern technologies in the chemical-forest complex”. The environmental agenda in Russia is more relevant than ever for our industry. As Vladimir Krupchak, member of the Board of Directors of the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill JSC, noted in his welcoming speech at the event opening on May, 31, 2022, the results of the conference will draw public attention to the environmental protection issues and will be reflected in the field of environmental management and regulation.

Practice shows that neither global pandemics, nor economic and political crises reduce the importance of the environment. The society’s great demand for a favourable environment for the industry is the driver of the transition to the best available technologies, rational use of natural resources.

By the beginning of 2022 many Russian companies have declared their commitment to the principles of sustainable development thereby guaranteeing the responsible approach to doing business. During the last two years the ESG-agenda which is inherent in companies with high environmental and social culture and committed to the goals of sustainable development, has become a powerful catalyst for the development of the environmental aspect .

This year the postponement of various environmental initiatives implementation began to be discussed and some licensing aspects of activities are also reasonably facilitated. At the same time, the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill believes that, as a result, the industry will be subject to higher requirements than pre-crisis ones.

Due to changes in approaches to environmental regulation the APPM faces uncertainties and difficulties. The enterprise has to contact the regulator for clarification. But, in the opinion of the APPM management, such work will be more effective with a systematic joint approach of all the interested parties and not each enterprise separately.

“At this conference we intend to develop the basis for interaction to create the most comfortable transition to the best available technologies, Dmitry Zyliov, Director General of the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill, noted in his report at the plenary meeting.– Along with force majeure circumstances the main part of the risks is in the area of permanently changing legislation and law enforcement practice. In our opinion, the leader of such changes is ecology. It will be easier to take new challenges together having a climate vision and a comprehensive assessment of industry risks”.

According to Director General of the APPM, in case one company encounters difficulties in the environmental activities, then after a while other enterprises face the same problems as well. These can be technological, financial, expert, legal and other aspects of activities in the field of environmental protection.

In addition, there has been a trend in the industry towards the creation of unified systems for assessing environmental performance. At the same time, the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill considers it expedient to maintain individual approaches where it is justified, for example, by regional, climatic and infrastructural features of the location of enterprises. When forming environmental ratings it is also necessary to take into account the technological and manufacturing features of the production.

In the pulp and paper industry there are a lot of examples of implementation and effective use of the environment-friendly technologies. However, the environmental aspect of the activity of the entire industry is traditionally and often biasedly perceived negatively in the society.

The APPM management is confident that the event will be able to dispel traditional estimates   and judgements, and should become an initial point of the active joint work of all the parties interested in the positive changes and development of the environmental legislation.