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LISTENING
STUDY Question 65:
What content standards are necessary for a paper to
be labeled as "made from sustainably harvested fibers"?
LISTENING
STUDY: Several responses reference Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC) content standards although some indicate
that these guidelines are insufficient.
Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC) guidelines provide much-needed
international standards and legitimacy to the sustainable
forestry movement. They also raise some reasonable concerns.
Old-growth harvesting can still take place under exceptional
conditions, though according to various sources, it
is doubtful that certified foresters would sell such
valuable resources for paper. In addition, current standards
require that papers labeled FSC contain 25 to 100 percent
virgin wood fibers, of which only 70 percent has to
be FSC certified. That means as much as 30 percent of
virgin wood fibers could be harvested within streamside
protection zones, on steep hillsides, or using other
unsustainable practices. Richard Donovan, an FSC certifier,
acknowledges these shortcomings, but believes that "the
intent of FSC is to move things in a better direction,
and the 70 percent threshold was an important and necessary
step in getting the program established." When buying
an FSC paper, find out the exact amount of certified
pulp it contains. - Imhoff 1999
Currently,
FSC certification for the percentage of paper or paper
products that is composed of virgin fiber is the only
widely accepted international certification program
among independent environmental advocacy groups. - Victoria
Mills, Project Manager, Corporate Partnerships, Environmental
Defense
The
label should state the percent of "sustainably harvested"
as well as percent post-consumer recycled. The standard
should be Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or equivalent.
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is still weak
in biodiversity. - Robert R. Bryan, Forest Ecologist,
Maine Audubon
The
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a leader in establishing
content standards. We would like to see 100% of all
paper to be from alternative fibres and FSC-certified
forests. - Susan Hammond, Executive Director, Silva
Forest Foundation
LISTENING
STUDY: Another response references Sustainable Forestry
Initiative (SFI) content standards to designate sustainably
harvested fibers.
The
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) has addressed
the question of content standards by releasing labels
that can be placed on products to let consumers know
that they are purchasing a sustainably manufactured
product. For example, a primary manufacturing company
can use the SFI label on their products if 50% or more
of the product's material is SFI certified. More information
about the SFI standard is available online at: www.afandpa.org/Content/NavigationMenu/
Environment_and_Recycling/SFI/SFI.htm - International
Paper
LISTENING
STUDY: Other responses do not specify a particular certification
scheme.
No
clearcuts, selective harvesting, limited roads, endangered
and threatened forests never touched. - Frank Locantore,
Co-op America
The
content standards vary depending on the label being
used. They generally require a certain percentage of
content coming from a forest certified to that forest
certification standard. - Stora Enso
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