The sustainable management of India’s forests is set to take a significant step forward next week with the launch of the development process of the Indian national forest certification system. This launch, an important step towards PEFC-recognized forest management certification in the country, will be part of an international conference on forest certification in New Delhi on Monday. “In light of India’s vast forest resource, burgeoning economy, and strategic position in international markets, there is great opportunity to further position India’s forestry sector on sustainability, especially through broader uptake of forest certification,” said Sarah Price, Head of Projects and Development at PEFC International.

“Greenwashing” is now a term most of us are familiar with. It means “the practice of making an unsubstantiated or misleading claim about the environmental benefits of a product, service or technology.” Terrachoice[i] found that over 95% of “greener” products commit one or more of the seven “Sins of Greenwashing,” so it’s a major problem in the marketplace. Paper products in particular seem to suffer from many unsubstantiated and vague claims, especially when it comes to corporations trying to promote electronic services over paper-based communications. The bottom line is that corporate marketers need to follow certain specific guidelines for environmental marketing, such as those published by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission[ii], and in Canada by the Competition Bureau of Canada[iii]. If they don’t, their company could face corrective action by the FTC[iv]. The International Standardization Organization (ISO) also has a series of standards on environmental declarations (ISO 14020) and has classified environmental claims into three categories – Type I, Type II and Type III.

The Canadian forest products industry now has 43% of the world’s independently certified forests or more than 160 million hectares, which is four times more than any other country. Certified forests means that companies follow progressive social and environmental forest management practices as assessed by an independent third body. This includes prompt regeneration of the forest land, sustainable harvest levels, protection of biodiversity and wildlife habitat and aboriginal engagement. “The environmental credentials of the Canadian forest industry are truly world-leading when it comes to certification,” says David Lindsay the president and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC). “The international marketplace can truly feel confident that Canadian forest products come from responsibly managed forests.”

Today at the meeting of the Environmental Commission at the Bratsk City Duma, Vasily Konovalov, Director Occupational Health, Industrial, Environmental and Fire Safety, Bratsk Branch of OJSC Ilim Group, reported the status of the environmental program implemented by the Company to reduce its environmental footprint. The program was presented by Company management to Bratsk Mayor Sergey Serebrennikov and Bratsk City Duma deputies in January 2015, and approved by the regional authorities.

New research, commissioned by the international non-profit organization Two Sides, has revealed that major global corporations are still using inaccurate and misleading environmental claims to encourage consumers to ‘go paperless’ and switch from paper-based to digital communication. This is despite legislation being introduced by advertising standards authorities to protect the consumer from being misled. The survey, undertaken in February 2015, showed that in the UK, there is still a significant proportion of banks, utilities and telecoms making false environmental claims. Research in the US shows a similar picture with half of the leading Fortune 500 companies in the same sectors doing the same. “This is extremely frustrating and unacceptable,” says Martyn Eustace, Founder of the Two Sides initiative. “The fact that marketers in some of the most high profile corporations in the world are still using unsubstantiated and misleading environmental claims to persuade consumers to switch from paper-based to cheaper electronic communication is outrageous. Many consumers want a paper option but they are being manipulated by a lack of clear and accurate information. Paper is based on a natural, highly renewable and recyclable resource and can be a sustainable way to communicate, especially when compared to electronic media."

The Norwegian Forest Certification Scheme has become the latest system to seek PEFC endorsement for the fourth time. Stakeholders globally are invited to provide feedback on its compliance with PEFC International's Sustainability Benchmarks by 4 May 2015. Alongside Finland and Sweden, Norway was among the first countries to achieve endorsement of its national forest certification system back in 2000. This was then followed by two successful re-endorsements of the system in 2006 and 2010. There are now over 9 million hectares of PEFC-certified Norwegian forests, making up almost 90% of the country’s forests. Practically all production forest in Norway is PEFC certified.

Despite challenging economic conditions and the drop in China's overall imports, Europe's leading recovered fiber exporter — the UK — still succeeded in shipping out larger volumes last year, according to latest figures from the country's Confederation of Paper Industries and HM Revenue & Customs. Combined, UK exports of all grades climbed 4.4% to 4.436 million tonnes in 2014 from 4.248 million tonnes in the previous year. Overseas shipments of corrugated and kraft edged 2.1% higher to 2.458 million tonnes while mixed paper deliveries to customers abroad soared 29.2% to 1.414 million tonnes. These gains more than offset steep declines for the high grades (-34.5% to 103 802 tonnes) and for newspapers and magazines (-21.6% to 460 199 tonnes).

Opponents of a California plastic bag ban have succeeded in stopping the ban from going into effect July 1 by securing a spot on the 2016 ballot. The Golden State had been slated to become the first US state to institute such a ban, but Tuesday, state election officials confirmed that the national advocacy group American Progressive Bag Alliance had collected the necessary half million signatures to place the issue before voters. This will stall a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in September until after the 2016 election.

The research revealed that over half of the 2,289 people surveyed in the nationwide poll, (some 57%) said they preferred their grocery and food packaging in paper-based material, whilst some 31% expressed no preference and just 8% preferred plastic containers. The consumers surveyed were also asked how likely they were to purchase a product from a retailer using paper-based containers as opposed to plastic containers. Some 46% said they were more likely to purchase an item if the packaging was paper-based, compared to 47% who said it would make no difference.

Print is a responsible environmental choice and an important touchpoint of any marketing campaign. That was the key message the audience heard last Thursday during the annual Ryerson Colloquium organized by the students of the Graphic Communications Management program. Dubbed Revive, Breaking Sustainability Myths, this year’s event featured a panel that set about outlining and then busting some often-heard myths about the sustainability of printing and using trees. For instance Monika Patel, director of programs and communications at the Forest Stewardship Council, told the industry crowd that trees are a renewable resource that can be planted again, once cut down. And, while recycled paper is good, the world would run out of paper if we only used recycled fibres.

Developing a much stronger presence in South America to better communicate the benefits of forest certification to forest owners, companies and consumers - this is the objective of the first PEFC South American Regional Workshop. The workshop, which will take place from 20-24 April 2015 in Montevideo, Uruguay, will bring together South American based PEFC organizations and external stakeholders to assess opportunities for identifying potential synergies and improving collaboration and coordination, and to develop strategies to improve market demand and access for PEFC-certified products.

One of our most important resources, the Myths & Facts Booklet, has been updated for 2015 including two new facts on; the benefits of packaging and, consumers choice to receive paper communications. Paper has been around for almost 2000 years and, during this time, it has undoubtedly established itself as the most effective and versatile means of communication. However, for a long time the industry has tolerated misinformation about its environmental record. Commonly, that print and paper are considered a primary cause of deforestation, uses a lot of non-renewable energy and has a high carbon footprint. The reality is very different. European forests having grown by 30% since 1950 and are expanding by 1.5 million football pitches every year. Furthermore, the paper industry is Europe’s largest user of renewable, low carbon energy and 54% of the energy used in European paper making is biomass based. It is important not to forget that the digital alternatives also have impacts.

Thoro Packaging has joined Two Sides North America, the non-profit organization that promotes and encourages the responsible production, use and sustainability of print and paper.

PEFC International is extremely pleased to welcome New Zealand as the newest member of the PEFC alliance. With the acceptance of the New Zealand Forest Certification Association (NZFCA) as the PEFC National Member for New Zealand, the country’s forest growers gain visibility in the world’s leading forest certification system.