Trees outside Forests – third member achieves endorsement of national requirements

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) has just released its 2015 progress report, "Growing our Future", which traces its journey to becoming one of the top forest certification programs in the world. Founded by the American forest industry, SFI is now a fully independent organization, governed by a three-chamber board reflecting the environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainability. In addition to SFI SFM, Millar Western holds two chain-of-custody certifications, PEFC and FSC, confirming that we have robust measures in place to prevent illegal or controversial timber from entering our supply chain. Each of our certifications helps us assure our customers, neighbours and other stakeholders that we are working responsibly as we grow our own future.

India has become the latest country to achieve the PEFC endorsement of its national forest certification system. “PEFC endorsement is a landmark achievement for India, as we have long felt the need for such a country specific and internationally benchmarked forest certification system,” said Vijai Sharma, Chairman of The Network for Certification and Conservation of Forests (NCCF), our national member for India. “Our newly endorsed national system will allow Indian forest managers to further strengthen their sustainable forest management practices, in line with global standards and multilateral requirements.” NCCF joined the PEFC alliance in 2015 and submitted the national system to PEFC for endorsement in 2017. The system was developed through a multi-stakeholder group including forestry professionals, representatives from government, forest corporations, conservation organisations and industry bodies. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Just as the world takes a major step in turning the tide on plastic pollution with a global treaty, the European Union is on the cusp of agreeing new regulations that could flood the market with millions of tonnes of new plastic. Well intended but misguided amendments have been put forward on the Commission’s proposal for a Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which are now being debated in the European Parliament. These amendments undermine the spirit of the regulation by trying to introduce mandatory reuse targets for cardboard, a material that is often unsuitable for multiple reuses. If accepted, these amendments would push economies away from the most recycled packaging materials and towards plastic alternatives, embedding a plastic economy into the market.