The paper mills run by APRIL and Toba Pulp have had serious impacts on local communities, as a result of forest concessions being granted for industrial exploitation without the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of the people with claims on the land and dependent on the forest resources for their livelihoods. This situation has led to significant social conflict and human rights violations. With the Constitutional Court ruling "MK 35" last year, there is also a material risk that areas in concessions allocated to APRIL, Toba Pulp Lestari and their suppliers and claimed by indigenous communities may be illegal.

RGE daughter company APRIL, the affiliated company Toba Pulp Lestari (which is also owned by Mr. Tanoto) and their suppliers, are having profound negative impacts on biodiversity and the climate. Many concessions supplying the mills owned by Mr. Tanoto are in areas representing some of the last refuges for the critically endangered Sumatran elephant and Sumatran tiger. Forest clearance of these areas pushes these species closer towards extinction. Drainage of deep peat soils both for natural forest clearance and for plantation establishment is an issue of global concern due to greenhouse gas emissions: a study released by the University of Helsinki, shows that APRIL's Acacia plantations on peatland in Sumatra release around 80 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare per year. Additional concerns include the continued subsidence of peatland areas, caused by drainage, leading to longer terms risks of flooding and inundation.

In 2012, the founder and chairman of RGE, Sukanto Tanotom was involved in one of the biggest tax evasion cases in Indonesian history. RGE daughter company Asian Agri Group, one of Asia's largest palm oil producers, was found guilty of tax evasion. The company  agreed to pay 2.5 trillion rupiah (S$ 250 million) in fines after the Attorney General's Office threatened to seize its assets.