CEPI's 2050 Roadmap has been nominated in the category Report of the Year at the European Public Affairs Awards. Now in their fifth year, the awards highlight success and encourage best practice throughout the European public affairs community; bringing recognition to individuals, organisations, issues and campaigns. Nominations launch in June and organisations throughout the profession are eligible to nominate both internally and externally until Friday 21 September 2012. Voting opens when the shortlist is announced in October and is open to all individuals working for an organisation listed on the Transparency Register and/or listed in the EPAD Directory.

The results of this year's awards will be announced during the awards dinner on Wednesday 14 November held at the stunning Albert Hall.

CEPI's report is competing with the Environmental Sustainability Report from FoodDrinkEurope and Women on Boards in Europe: from a snail’s pace to a giant leap from The European Women’s Lobby.

The awards provide the following explanation for nominating the Roadmap:
It's not often that a publication by a Brussels trade association causes a stir. The CEPI 2050 Roadmap has. It is frequently used as an example by policy makers, both at the European Commission and in the Parliament. The process of engaging stakeholders and industry representatives was also innovative and much appreciated by the target audiences. The report has united the paper industry internally and given them incentives to think about the future in positive terms.

The final document was supported by a dedicated website and a special Facebook page. The CEPI 2050 roadmap inspired many of CEPI's national members to start their own national roadmap for 2050. It has influenced board meetings in all member countries and many companies in the paper industry sector. Many other industry associations in Brussels are now working on similar reports.

Wausau Paper (NYSE:WPP) has reported that:

• Excluding special items, third-quarter adjusted net earnings from continuing operations were $0.06 per diluted share, compared to adjusted net earnings of $0.12 per diluted share during the same period last year.
• Net earnings from continuing operations, excluding special items, for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, were $0.25 per diluted share and $0.27 per diluted share, respectively.

During 2012, the Company completed the sale of its premium Print & Color brands, inventory and select equipment, and the permanent closure and sale of its Brokaw, Wisconsin, manufacturing site. The Company began reporting the operations of the Brokawmanufacturing facility and related closure activities as a discontinued operation as of March 31, 2012, in the condensed consolidated balance sheet. Additionally, the discontinued operation is separately presented from continuing operations for all periods presented in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. All results discussed below exclude the discontinued operation unless otherwise indicated.

Third-quarter net loss from continuing operations was $5.2 million, or $0.10 per share compared to net earnings of $5.4 million, or $0.11 per diluted share a year ago. On a year-over-year basis, consolidated net sales decreased five percent to $202 million with shipments measured in tons decreasing three percent. Year-to-date, the Company reported a net loss from continuing operations of $1.5 million, or $0.03 per share, compared with net earnings of $10.0 million, or $0.20 per diluted share in the comparable 2011 period. For the nine months ended September 30, consolidated net sales increased two percent to $631 million as shipments increased four percent.

On an adjusted basis, third-quarter results included after-tax expenses of $7.6 million, or$0.15 per diluted share related to settlement charges on certain defined benefit pension plans and $1.2 million, or $0.02 per diluted share for capital-related expense for the Tissue expansion project. Prior-year third-quarter results included after-tax capital-related expenses of $0.4 million, or $0.01 per diluted share for the Tissue expansion project.

For the first nine months of 2012, adjusted net earnings from continuing operations were$12.3 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, compared with prior-year adjusted net earnings of$13.2 million, or $0.27 per diluted share. Although these comparisons are non-GAAP measures, the Company believes that the presentation of adjusted net earnings from continuing operations provides a useful analysis of ongoing operating trends. Adjusted earnings for the three and nine-month periods are reconciled to GAAP earnings below.

Click image to enlarge

Including discontinued operations, net of tax, third-quarter net loss was $5.3 million, or $0.11per share, compared to net earnings of $5.2 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, for the same period last year. Current-quarter and prior-year results included earnings from continuing operations before income taxes offset by income tax expense and a net loss from discontinued operations of $0.2 million, or $0.00 per share.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2012, including discontinued operations, net of tax, net earnings were $3.1 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, compared to net earnings of $7.0 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, for the same period last year. Net earnings in the current year included earnings from continuing operations before income taxes offset by income tax expense and net earnings from discontinued operations of $4.6 million, or $0.09 per diluted share. Net earnings in the prior year included earnings from continuing operations before income taxes, offset by income tax expense, and a net loss from discontinued operations of$3.0 million, or $0.06 per share.

Henry C. Newell, president and CEO, commenting on the Company’s continued progress against strategic initiatives, said, “Our Tissue expansion is on track as three to four percent case shipment growth continues to drive improving operating margins, now approaching 13 percent. The second half is proving to be a challenge for our Paper segment, as we see slowing demand in industrial and tape markets at a time when we are commercializing new technical capacity at our Brainerd, Minnesota, facility. Despite these pressures, technical volumes are up six percent this year and specifically, tape sector volume is up 14 percent, the result of new customer business and new product introductions.

“The successful exit of our Print franchise has resulted in an exceptionally well positioned balance sheet as we continue to commercialize technical capacity on our Brainerd asset and complete the installation, start-up and commercialization of the new towel and tissue machine at Harrodsburg, Kentucky. We expect to report continued progress over the coming quarters against the long-term growth targets and timelines we’ve outlined this year.”

TISSUE SEGMENT
The Tissue segment’s third-quarter operating profit of $7.5 million included pre-tax expense of $1.9 million related to the expansion activity. This result compared favorably to prior-year operating profit of $7.0 million, including $0.7 million in expansion-related pre-tax expense.

PAPER SEGMENT
During 2012, the Company completed the sale of this segment’s premium Print & Color brands, inventory and select equipment, and ceased papermaking and converting operations at its former primary Print & Color manufacturing site in Brokaw. In the third quarter, we sold the mill site to an unrelated third party. Results of operations related to the former Brokawmanufacturing facility are reported as discontinued operations and for the third quarter and the same period last year included, net-of-tax, a loss of $0.2 million from operations.

From continuing operations, the Paper segment reported a third-quarter operating loss of $7.9 million versus an operating profit of $5.9 million for the same period in 2011. The 2012 third-quarter operating loss included pre-tax expense of $7.7 million related to a settlement charge on a certain defined benefit pension plan associated with our former Jay, Maine, facility. The operating results reflect the impact of transitioning capacity to technical grades, including extensive trialing activity at our Brainerd papermaking operations and the pace of working capital liquidation as a result of the premium Print & Color sale and Brokaw closure activity.

In a release issued October 1, the Company set forth full-year guidance for adjusted net earnings from continuing operations of $0.28-$0.30 per diluted share compared to prior-year adjusted net earnings of $0.33 per diluted share.

Click here to download the full release and tables

Jari Koikkalainen (b. 1965), M.Sc. (Tech), eMBA, is appointed Executive Vice President, Transportation Filtration, and member of the Executive Management Team as of February 1, 2013, at Ahlstrom Corporation.

Koikkalainen will report to Jan Lång, President and CEO, Ahlstrom. In his new role, Koikkalainen will be responsible for leading and developing the transportation filtration business within Ahlstrom. He will be based in Beijing, China.

Koikkalainen joins Ahlstrom from Metso Corporation, where he has held various senior executive positions during 2000-2012. At present, Koikkalainen is Area President, Metso Paper (China) Co., Ltd. 

Metsä Fibre will announce a new price of Botnia Nordic Pine (Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft) in Europe, effective November 1, 2012 until further notice.

The new price is 820 USD, CIF Metsä Fibre’s usual European ports.

The other terms remain as agreed.

Catalyst Paper Corporation will hold a conference call on Wednesday November 14 at 8:00 a.m. Pacific, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, to review the Company's quarterly results which will be released on Tuesday November 13, 2012. 

To access the LIVE WEBCAST click HERE

Kevin J. Clarke, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Brian Baarda, Vice-President Finance and Chief Financial Officer, will host the call.

If you wish to participate and are calling from within North America, dial 888-231-8191.  If you are calling from either the Toronto area or outside North America, dial 647-427-7450.  Please place your call ten minutes prior to the start of the conference, provide the conference administrator with your name and company name, and ask for the Catalyst Paper third quarter 2012 earnings conference call or quote conference ID#56717173.  Initially, all participants will be in a listen-only mode for a short recap of our quarterly results followed by a question-and-answer session.  You will be queued with the conference administrator and polled individually during this portion of the conference.

If you are unable to participate in the call, you are invited to listen to a replay of the conference by dialling 855-859-2056 (within North America) or 416-849-0833 (Toronto area and outside North America) and quote ID#56717173.  The replay service will be available until end of day November 28, 2012. 

The archived webcast will be available at www.catalystpaper.com/investors

Resolute Forest Products has rescheduled the dissemination of its third quarter financial results from Tuesday, October 30, 2012, to Friday, November 2, 2012. The postponement is due to the expected effect of weather conditions associated with Hurricane Sandy.

The Company plans to issue a press release announcing the results at approximately 8:00 a.m. (ET) on Friday, November 2, 2012, and will then hold a conference call to discuss those results at 9:00 a.m. (ET). The public is invited to join the call at 888 789-9572 (pass code 9922866) at least fifteen minutes before its scheduled start time. A simultaneous webcast will also be available using the link provided under "Presentations and Webcasts" in the "Investors" section of www.resolutefp.com. A replay of the webcast will be archived on the Company's website.

SOURCE: RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS INC.

Sonoco, one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, has announced that 19 of its Industrial Carriers (North America) facilities successfully diverted over 95 percent of  landfill waste in 2011. These 19 facilities bring the total number of Sonoco plants to 30. Four of the 19 plants have achieved landfill-free status by sending less than one percent to landfill, while the other 15 have reached five percent or less.

"One of our Company-wide sustainability initiatives is to take 10 percent of our global manufacturing facilities landfill free by 2015," said Harris DeLoach Jr., chairman and chief executive officer. "To see this level of buy-in by one of our divisions is very encouraging, and raises the bar for all Company divisions."

"I am very proud of our group," said James Harrell, vice president, Industrial Carriers NA. "To achieve this level of landfill diversion, the entire Industrial Carriers division had to coordinate its efforts across the United States and Canada. They've been tracking landfill tonnage for over two years, working to decrease and divert wastes, and the time and work they've put into this is evident in the results."

Facilities recognized included:

Gold Star Awards - Opp, Ala.; Cap de la Madeleine, Quebec; Delta, British Columbia; West Chicago, Ill.

Silver Star Awards - Neenah, Wis.; Hartsville Converting, S.C.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Baton Rouge, La.; Elon, N.C.; Robesonia, Pa.;Pittsfield, Maine; Akron, Ind.; Morganfield, Ky.; Berthoud, Colo.; Boone, Iowa; City of Industry, Calif.; Lewiston, Idaho; Woodland, Wash.; St. John, Neb.

Created by Sonoco Recycling, a leader in recycling and a unit of Sonoco, to recognize customer and Sonoco facilities for achieving significant milestones in landfill diversion and waste stream reduction, the Sonoco Sustainability Star Award program is composed of three tiers:

• Gold Star Awards, which recognizes facilities as landfill free for achieving 99 percent landfill diversion;
• Silver Star Awards, which are given to facilities achieving 95 percent landfill diversion; and
• Bronze Awards, which recognize facilities that have made significant waste reduction achievements.

To see the full list of Star Award winners and learn more about our Sonoco Sustainability Star Award program, administered by Sonoco Recycling, visit http://www.sonoco.com/productsservices/sonocorecycling/sustainabilitystarawards.aspx or stop by our booth #S-1562 at Pack Expo.

A recycling leader with 50 locations and expertise worldwide, Sonoco Recycling annually collects approximately 3 million tons of old corrugated containers, various grades of paper, metals and plastics. In addition, the Company has experts who provide secure, reliable and innovative recycling solutions to residential and commercial customers. Currently, Sonoco Recycling operates six material recovery facilities (MRFs) and serves nearly 150 communities in which curbside-collected residential and commercial materials are processed. The Company also provides recycling programs which identify waste reduction opportunities that reduce operating expenses for many of the largest consumer product companies in the U.S.

2011 acquisition of Tegrant Corporation triggers need for updated branding