Designers and printers alike are at the forefront of incorporating their eco-minded efforts into creating pieces with sensitivity to the environment and natural resources. Some of this comes into play when choosing paper for printed communications materials. The U.S. is the largest market for paper products in the world, producing 90 million tons of paper annually and, in-turn, consuming about 100 million tons. Despite improved technologies for refining post consumer pulp, virgin fiber is still a significant requirement, as only 35% of current consumption is met by using recycled fiber; in addition, approximately 25% of recovered fiber is exported out of US markets. Roughly 25% by volume of timber cut annually in the US is used for paper production.
Two programs have come into light recently to certify paper mills, printers, and Chain of Custody vendors to highlight their commitment to responsibly-managed forests.
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)
The FSC is an international accrediting organization that has developed standards to certify wood harvested from well-managed forests and wood products (i.e. paper) made from FSC certified wood. In addition to the Forest Management Program, FSC also offers a Chain of Custody Program that accounts for how the certified wood is managed once it leaves the forest. Labels on these products may also include a statement regarding the percentage of FSC wood in the product.
Any product made of pulp or paper has the potential to be certified as long as the wood used in the product originates from FSC-certified sources. Wood is an important material for all paper manufacturers. The FSC certification system allows these professionals to know they are doing the right thing, and taking business away from other companies that may still be supporting illegal, unsustainable, unverified logging activities. The intent of the FSC system is to shift the market to eliminate habitat destruction, water pollution, displacement of indigenous peoples and violence against people and wildlife that often accompanies logging.
SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative)
The SFI® program is an internationally endorsed forest certification program and was launched in 1995 in response to market concerns about forest management and illegal logging. It provides an internationally recognized and science-based standard that sets requirements for how a forest should be managed. In order for forest companies to claim they are SFI-certified, their operations must be audited against that standard by independent, third-party certification bodies.
Forest certification is often complemented with a chain-of-custody certification, which is a tool used to track wood from a certified forest all the way to the end-user, providing a link between the certified forest and the certified product. In the case of paper products, this chain of custody includes the forest, mill, distributor, printer, etc. For an end-user to claim a paper is SFI certified, this chain of custody must be maintained. That means buying an SFI-certified product from an SFI-certified distributor and/or using an SFI-certified printer.
SFI offers a suite of product and promotional labels that allow certified organizations to make claims about the content of the product they sell that comes from certified forests or that is sourced through our rigorous fiber sourcing program. So whether it is paper, packaging or construction materials, a claim can be made regarding the certified content, similar to recycled content claims and labels seen on products. In addition, SFI is one of the world's largest forest certification standards, offering significantly more products from certified sources than most other standards, which is important, especially considering only 10% of the world's forests are certified.
Specifying SFI-and/or FSC-certified paper demonstrates a printer or designer's commitment to the environment. It also reflects the values of the client a printer or designer might be working with, be it on an annual report, company newsletter, packaging, etc. These commitments help designers, printers and others meet their clients' and the markets' increasing demand for products from well-managed forests.
