70 leading paper manufacturers from Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa have been identified as potential leaders in promoting transparency and continual improvement in paper manufacturing. The list is publicly available on wwf.panda.org/epci2013 .

“Transparency is increasingly recognized by the industry as an important aspect of their operations, and many companies today make efforts on transparency in various ways,” says Emmanuelle Neyroumande, manager of WWF International’s global pulp and paper work. “WWF´s Environmental Paper Company Index facilitates a better understanding of complex data sets by focusing on the most important parameters and filtering them through an environmental lense.”

In 2012, the EPCI method was reviewed in cooperation with paper manufacturers from around the world in order to improve its global applicability and relevance. WWF also changed the EPCI to focus on a reference format, presenting collated results per company rather than presenting a comparison matrix.

“All participating companies will be applauded for being transparent on their environmental performance, which is more important than actual results in this exercise,” says Neyroumande. “The new reference rather than comparison format of the EPCI will hopefully make it attractive for more producers to take part.”

Deadline for participating is 30th of June 2013. Companies that have not been invited but would like to participate can contact the WWF International Paper Team at epci@wwf.panda.org.