Plastic waste is known as the worst pollutant to our environment, with single-use plastic shopping bags perceived as the biggest cause of this issue. However, despite massive actions undertaken by environmentalists and government agencies to promote the adoption of biobased shopping bags, human behavior towards single-use plastic shopping bag consumption continues to persist and unfortunately, is soaring. To address this issue, we propose that consumer personality traits significantly influence this behavior. Therefore, we apply motive disposition theory (MDT) and institutional theory to examine consumers’ motives, specifically focusing on the power motive and the institutions that influence them. By employing an online survey and moderated mediation analysis, a sample of 207 individuals was engaged to investigate the influence of consumers’ power motives on green consumption towards biobased shopping bags. The results indicate that this relationship is contingent upon the mediating role of consumer environmental concern. Additionally, it has been observed that the level of adoption is even stronger when consumers perceive that knowledge supporting environmentally friendly behavior is accessible to them.

Due to concern over climate change, there is an increasing desire to limit new carbon dioxide emissions and to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Specific efforts include taxing carbon emissions, capping carbon emissions and selling emissions allowances, and rewarding activities that avoid new carbon emissions or that capture and store carbon from the atmosphere. Cross laminated timber (CLT) is a relatively new product that enables mass timber construction to replace steel and concrete in mid-to-high-rise buildings. Wood materials offer substantial ‘carbon benefits’ by storing carbon in the product, and by avoiding the large amounts of new carbon emissions associated with the use of fossil carbon-based material options (e.g., concrete and steel). In this analysis, we propose that the carbon benefits of mass timber construction could be valued as a carbon offset, much in the same way that the carbon savings of building a wind farm or solar power plant are currently being marketed for avoiding fossil-fuel electricity generation, or additional forest growth is being sold as carbon storage. Using a range of carbon prices, we calculate the potential carbon offset values of some mass timber construction projects located in the United States. The estimated total carbon benefit, including avoided emissions and carbon storage in wood materials from those mass timber construction projects averaged 0.38 tCO2e /m2 of floor space, representing carbon values for projects ranging into the millions of dollars. Future trends in carbon price will greatly affect the practical implications of any carbon offset program for mass timber construction.

With the development of finished houses in China supported by the government, housing developersplay a critical role in the purchase of flooring products. On the other hand, wood flooringmanufacturers know the importance of forest certification for export, but pay less attention to thedomestic market. This study evaluated both housing developers’ and wood flooring manufactures’perceived benefits of forest certification in China, using a survey. For manufacturers, the three mostimportant benefits of adopting forest certification were to “meet foreign customers’ purchasingrequirements,” “support sustainable forestry and protect the environment,” and “meet corporatesocial responsibility goals.” For housing developers, the most important benefits of using certifiedflooring were to “acquire new consumers from domestic market (e.g., green consumer),” “achieveproduct differentiation,” and “brand the house with high-end image.” The largest perception gapbetween the two groups of respondents was with respect to “gain financial aids (e.g., tax and loan).”The findings suggest that there is an increasing demand for forest certified products from housingdevelopers in China, which requires manufacturers to enhance their marketing strategies to meetthe domestic demands for certified flooring.

The implementation of automated solutions in manufacturing commonly involves large investments and high levels of risk. It is therefore important that decisions related to automated solutions are well supported. The maturity level differs across industry sectors, and the wood products industry is in some respects lagging behind. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential challenges the wood products industry is facing related to automation decisions when designing manufacturing systems and suggest tactics, with inspiration from another industrial sector, that can support such decisions. A multiple case study was carried out, involving a development project carried out in the wood products industry and another in the assumingly more mature automotive industry. Automation decisions were studied in the different phases prior to implementation of the physical manufacturing system. The findings showed both similarities and differences across the development projects. For example, in both development projects it was decided to reach out to automation suppliers for automation technology acquisition. However, the decision on to which degree to collaborate with the automation suppliers differed. Based on the similarities and differences pointed out, ideas were put forward that might be supportive for the wood products industry.

An examination of hardwood lumber prices in the eastern United States adjusted for inflation and regional differences in forest composition found declines in aggregate (combined species) prices across all regions. The greatest declines occurred in the Northeast and Lake States regions with smaller declines occurring in the Central, Southern, and Mid-Atlantic regions. With the exception of white oak and walnut, prices of high-value species declined more than prices of low-value species. For most of this century, the Northeast region has had the highest aggregate prices for lumber products. However, the Central region had the highest price for high-quality lumber since 2017. While lumber prices have declined, prices for industrial hardwood products increased. In 2020, the price of pallet cants exceeded the price of lower quality hardwood lumber for most species, and crosstie prices exceeded that of aggregate mid-quality lumber. The declines in hardwood lumber prices were the result of reduced domestic demand and insufficient increases in exports to offset this decrease. While increased domestic and export demand will result in increased prices, the prolonged period of low lumber prices may reduce the expected returns to timber management.

Megaforces such as climate change, and market dynamics are impacting the development of product and service markets in the forest sector, driving renewal and reorientation. The University of Helsinki (UofH) has produced leading academic research, through global collaborations, on managing that transition by firms within the Nordic forest sector. To further understanding of how much and in what ways their research is aligned to forest sector developments, a case study was conducted assessing (1) the Nordic industrial forest context, (2) the corresponding research contributions and collaborations from 2014–2019, and (3) future research orientations. A conceptual lens of forest-value chain sustainability from the perspective of industrial competitiveness was applied. Research design included three questions for the aspects noted, investigated sequentially to triangulate and validate results. The results highlighted similarities and divergences between current and future research orientations and between researcher perspectives and the actions of incumbent forestry firms. Together, these indicate gaps in the ambition level required to support renewal in industrial competitiveness. Closing them will require a radical transformation, relying on proactive management and investment toward new product and service development, in order for forest industry firms to become champions in the circular and bioeconomy paradigms.

With the rise of the internet and electronic media, the first two decades of the 21st century have seen a rapid decline in demand for graphic paper. This study examines the strategic actions pulp and paper companies have been taking to adapt to such changes in their business environment, with the aim of providing a comprehensive description of both the leading firms and the smaller players in the industry. Public documents of 40 public and privately owned pulp and paper manufacturers in North America and Nordic Europe were examined for a range of change-related activities, such as repositioning efforts and changes to leadership, financing, and/or firm structure. Companies have been gradually reducing their production of graphic paper and increasing production of other products, thereby illustrating the twin turnaround concepts of retrenchment and recovery. Due to the capital outlay required to switch from one product to another, larger, integrated companies have generally been more successful at adapting than smaller companies that make mostly graphic paper. An unexpected observation was that declining demand was just one of many pressures on the pulp and paper industry; company documents also frequently mentioned fiber supply shortages and government regulations as drivers of change.