Taking the temperature of the paper industry in 2025: two inside views

When you look back at 2024, what do you think of as the key challenges you had to face in your roles at Cepi and 4evergreen? And how did you approach them? 

Marco 

The biggest challenge has been twofold – coping with economic uncertainty and dealing with European regulations that affect our industry. 

I have a phrase that describes my approach as Cepi chairperson: “Speak with one voice, use our broad shoulders and create an informed, positive outlook.” We represent a significant industry with a huge relevance for the future of Europe. So, we have to work closely with policymakers to open people’s eyes to the benefits that fibre-based products can bring to our society – emphasising the fact that we are part of the solution not part of the problem.

Sarah

When I look back on what I wanted to achieve last year in the role of chair, a lot of it was about helping 4evergreen to transition to an important new work phase.

I spent the first year of my chair role, in 2023 as co-chair, leading a strategic task force to develop and present recommendations that would guide 4evergreen in the period 2024 to 2026. A big focus here was on completing 4evergreen’s toolbox – the guidelines and protocols that support the value chain in perfecting the circularity of fibre-based packaging.

The recommendations were approved at the end of 2023 and then, in 2024, it was about setting up new areas of work around innovation and exploring improved data management systems so that we can better collate and prove our progress on the issue of circularity.

How pleased are you with what you achieved last year? 

Sarah 

Last year 4evergreen focused a lot on the changing legislative environment with the very live revision of the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). Finally, with clarity on the new regulations, we had the opportunity to assess alignment and get organised about leveraging our deliverables for the standardisation process to follow.

I was also happy to play a role in promoting growth for the organisation by leading the work on changing 4evergreen's governance to enable associations to join. Last year we already welcomed 30 new members, but by expanding the membership to also include associations we can really make sure we're supporting an aligned approach among all the different industry associations working in fibre-based packaging.

That’s important because I think the success of 4evergeen will come from more and more organisations and companies adopting the work, the toolkits, the guidelines.

Marco

I was very pleased with the position we took as part of the Antwerp Declaration in February last year. As chairperson of Cepi, and together with a dozen other CEOs,

I had the opportunity to make a statement about our industry to an audience including Ursula von der Leyen and Enrico Letta. We made a strong case for an industry deal to support the implementation of the European Green Deal – something that ultimately resulted in the Clean Industry Act being part of the new EU Commission’s agenda.

This event represented Cepi and more than 70 business leaders across 17 sectors uniting their voices and visions to help safeguard Europe's manufacturing talent and power base.

We’ve also played a part in shaping the PPWR to recognise the recyclability of our products. And this year we'll see the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) as another big topic to be implemented in the same way – with one voice, broad shoulders and a positive outlook. 

How important is it that companies such as Sappi step up and take on leadership roles across industry organisations such as Cepi and 4evergreen? 

Marco 

It’s an honour to have this position. Not least because it shows that Sappi has a firm interest in what's happening in Europe – and that we would like to safeguard our mills and our employees at the same time as contributing to the success of our industry and its central role in pioneering a shift towards a competitive, bio-based circular economy.

And it's also incredibly important to keep on creating this community interaction – I would encourage all organisations to share their expertise and help us collaboratively steer the strategic direction of our industry.

So yes, it’s an honour to be Cepi chairperson at such a pivotal moment for our industry and also for Europe as a competitive economic continent.

Sarah

It continues to be super important that the pulp and paper industry is taking a leading role in 4evergreen and fostering collaboration on circularity across the entire fibre-based packaging value chain.

Even when we all have limited time and so much to do, I think it’s important that we play our part in contributing to partnerships – as that’s where we can achieve system change and big sustainability impacts.

4evergreen also enables us to engage with our suppliers and our customers at the same time, and that’s one part about it that I really appreciate.

Marco, you’re chair of Cepi for another year. Are you looking forward to the rest of 2025? 

Marco 

Yes, I am. The first year has given me a deep appreciation of the support needed and the complexity of the issues at hand. There are no easy answers, but we have created great momentum and I feel that my experience in year one can only enrich what we hope to achieve in 2025.  
 

And Sarah, you’re stepping down after two years as a chair of 4evergreen. Are you going to miss it? 

Sarah 

I am very much looking forward to getting back to my day job!

I’m really happy that we've got two excellent co-leads coming in to fill the leadership roles, and it's been a super nice handover. But, yes, it'll free up my time a lot. So that now, even when it comes to 4evergreen, I have the space to decide where I can best get actively involved – and not only steer, which is of course what you're doing in the chair role.

And, a little like Marco, through doing this I've also learned a lot about what makes a good collaboration. So, from here I’ll be getting more involved in steering some other groups as well, like the Forest Solution Group at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. 

How do you see the future role of Cepi and 4evergreen beyond 2025? 

Marco 

That's an interesting question. My ambition is to make Cepi a broader alliance over the next five years of the new European Commission – one that will help us progress towards a truly future-proof industry.  

There’s a big focus from the Commission on delivering the commitments made by 2030 – and we need to be ready to cope with the deadlines that have been set.

Sarah

For 4evergreen, like Cepi, it’s all about understanding that change is coming – and understanding the requirements and expectations that go with that. Again, really the only way to fully prepare and support the transformation is to work in collaboration. And that's what 4evergreen provides.

We now have a proven track record of developing consensus around very specific technical guidance. We've been able to prove that we can drive progress and produce valuable guidelines and protocols. Hopefully this work can be leveraged in the secondary legislation of the PPWR.

And with that success comes ambition. It’s a mark of our ambition that we've gone beyond the regulatory requirement of 85% recycled rates for fibre-based packaging by 2030. We want voluntarily to get to 90% – and I think we will.

You sound optimistic about the future. Is that how you both feel? 

Sarah 

When I think about the actions we need to take to have a system-level transformation of not only how we produce packaging – but also how it's collected, how it's sorted, how it's recycled, where that fibre goes – I think about the ability that 4evergreen has to pull all the actors together.  

Making system-level changes is impossible on your own, and providing a space for those discussions to happen is something super unique.

Marco

I am optimistic about the ability of our industry to adapt. We’ve been through cycle after cycle together, through crisis, through euphoria. But more than that – I think there's an awful lot of potential in this industry. In many ways, Cepi embodies this potential and is only going to become more relevant.  

I’m positive that our adaptability means we can address these challenges – and prosper.  ance areas