APP plans the world’s biggest pulp mill, in Sumatra

Aida Greenbury, managing director of sustainability at APP, July 2010: “There are no out of control expansion plans of our pulp production.”

RISI, February 2012: “We have been able to confirm with reliable sources that Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) is actively developing a large BHK market pulp mill to be located in south Sumatra. Details are not finalized, but the mill is expected to have a nominal capacity of between 1.5 and 2.0 million tonnes per year of BHK, making it the largest single pulp line in the world. APP has been doing extensive planting in the south Sumatra area for some years now, and there is a considerable amount of wood reaching maturity. It is not expected that there will be paper machines installed at the site. We believe that APP has been in discussions with equipment suppliers, but no further details are available. Startup for the mill is being targeted for 2015-16.”

Hundreds of thousands join Barbie Rainforest destruction campaign, spark Facebook complaint

The Ken and Barbie campaign continues…

Greenpeace banner drop at Mattel’s head office:

Greenpeace press release:

Ken dumps Barbie. Will Mattel dump APP?

As you must know by now, Greenpeace launched a Barbie campaign last week. APP, predictably, denies any wrong-doing, but then again, they always do. On APP’s corporate website with the Orwellian title “Rainforest Realities”, APP’s Aida Greenbury describes Greenpeace’s report which backs up the Barbie campaign as “unsubstantiated allegations”. Greenpeace’s report can be downloaded here.

Here’s the interview with Ken, where he learns about Barbie’s rainforest destruction habit:

New report from Greenomics challenges APP’s “sustainability” claims

A new report from Indonesian NGO Greenomics challenges APP’s statements about its “sustainable and environmentally conscious” operations.

The report, “Time for Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) to Come Clean to Stakeholders on its Indonesian Operations,” (pdf file 341.8 KB) is in response to an APP statement released on 1 August 2010, in which the company stated that:

“Since 1996, APP’s pulpwood suppliers have been developing degraded and low conservation-value areas, legally designated by the Government of Indonesia for pulpwood plantations to support the country’s sustainable development. Much of pulpwood suppliers’ concession areas are denuded wasteland and community-based forest plantations. APP would not accept its pulpwood suppliers to cut high conservation value forest as defined by the Government of Indonesia.”

In an open letter to APP stakeholders, Greenomics explains that it has has “examined the veracity of this ‘fact’ having regard to APP’s pulpwood sources, the clearing of natural forest, and the connection between these activities and climate change.”

United Fiber shelves pulp mill in Kalimantan

United Fiber (UFS) has announced that it has “put on hold” its plans to build a new pulp mill in South Kalimantan in Indonesia. The plan had been severely criticised by NGOs over several years and the company was mired in controversy – as this profile of the company, that I wrote three years ago, reveals.

Toba Pulp Lestari destroys Benzoin forest gardens

There’s a fascinating article in this month’s World Rainforest Movement Bulletin about community run Benzoin forest gardens in Sumatra and how these are currently under threat because of the expansion of eucalyptus plantations to feed Toba Pulp Lestari’s pulp mill.

The benzoin farmers are standing up for their rights. They are defending their territories and livelihoods.

To support their struggles, visit the Haminjon Tano Batak facebook page.

Or support the cause on causes.com.

Indonesia: Sinar Mas pulp and paper plantations encroaching on forests and peatlands

More on Asia Pulp and Paper’s destructive operations in Sumatra.

Indonesia: Sinar Mas pulp and paper plantations encroaching on forests and peatlands

WRM Bulletin 156, July 2010

Controlled by the Indonesian Widjaja family, the Sinar Mas group is one of the largest conglomerates in Indonesia engaged in clearing rainforests and destroying peatlands for their several bussinesses, including the pulp and paper industry through the Sinar Mas’ pulp and paper division, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).

“Pulping the planet”: Greenpeace on Sinar Mas

Greenpeace recently released a report documenting the destruction caused by the pulp and paper companies controlled by Sinar Mas, including Asia Pulp and Paper.

Indonesia: Pulp and paper companies allowed to continue trashing forests

The Indonesian Ministry of Forestry has allowed pulp and paper companies to use wood from native forests. “It is not impossible for the policy for pulp and paper industries to use wood from natural forests to be extended,” Anatara News reports Indonesia’s Forestry Minister MS Kaban as saying.

APRIL sacks workers

APRIL is to lay off one thousand workers from its Kerinci pulp and paper mill in Riau province and will “temporarily” lay off another one thousand, according to RISI.