Sugar beet paper – Reducing environmental impacts by 16%

Sugar beet paper is a ground-breaking innovation by Dutch beet sugar manufacturer Cosun Beet Company and paper producer Crown Van Gelder. Beet fibre from beet pulp, a co-product of the sugar making process, is used to replace 20% of wood fibre required for making paper. This has considerable environmental benefits.

Paper made with beet fibre has a 16% lower aggregate environmental impact than paper made solely from wood pulp. It produces 6% less CO2 emissions and enables an 18% decrease in land usage, thereby contributing to the objectives of the EU Climate Strategy. Sugar beet paper also requires 10% less fresh water for production and, with sugar beets sourced from local farms within a 150km radius of the paper manufacturers’ plant, cuts down significantly on transport emissions. As a type of paper with a comparatively small environmental impact that can also come into direct contact with food, sugar beet paper is an important innovation in sustainable packaging. This innovation can help reduce waste and make sustainable products the norm in the EU. Cosun Beet Company have made the paper part of their own industrial packaging portfolio.

CONTRIBUTION TO EU PRIORITIES:

• Circular Economy Action Plan – Ensure less waste and make sustainable products the norm in the EU
• Climate Strategy – Reduction of CO2 emissions

WHERE

Netherlands

Project championed by