UPM Raflatac has been granted FSC and PEFC chain of custody certificates for its labelstock operations in Australia and New Zealand. The chain of custody certifications guarantee that the wood used in UPM Raflatac’s label materials originates from sustainably managed forests.
“Achieving chain of custody certification for our Oceania operation demonstrates our ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility,” says Jouni Komulainen, General Manager of UPM Raflatac Oceania. “Our customers can purchase paper labelstock knowing that their materials are sourced from sustainably managed forests, and certified paper labels give retailers the opportunity to demonstrate their sustainability credentials to consumers, who in turn can make responsible buying decisions.”
FSC and PEFC are currently the main global forest management certifications. The Australia and New Zealand facilities will be annually audited to verify its continued compliance with the certification requirements.
“The certification involves implementing documented procedures to ensure that certified materials are tracked through all stages of our operation from goods receiving, to lamination, converting and quality assurance, through to customer’s premises. This achievement is a significant milestone towards increasing our range of eco-labelled products as we aim to embed environmental considerations for all our products,” says Carol Lawrence, Environmental & Sustainability Specialist of UPM Raflatac Oceania.
UPM supports and uses reliable forest certification schemes and has built a global chain-of-custody model to monitor and report the proportion of certified fibre in its products. The system meets both FSC and PEFC requirements.
UPM Raflatac, part of UPM’s Engineered Materials business group, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of self-adhesive label materials. UPM Raflatac has a global service network consisting of 12 factories on six continents and a broad network of sales offices and slitting and distribution terminals worldwide. UPM Raflatac employs 2,400 people and made sales of over EUR 1.1 billion (USD 1.6 billion) in 2011. Further information is available at www.upmraflatac.com.
The Chain of Custody (CoC) verifies that the wood used in a product originates from sustainably managed and certified forests.
FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council) is an international non-governmental organisation founded in 1993, whose task is to support environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests. Forests certified to FSC standards are located in more than 60 countries. The Council has defined ten general principles of forest management. The actual certification standards are drawn up in accordance with the FSC principles in a national cooperation process. Fulfilling the FSC standard requires independent third-party verification. More information:www.fsc.org.
PEFC™ (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) is, by area, the world’s largest forest certification system. PEFC is an umbrella organisation for the mutual recognition of national or regional forest certification schemes which meet internationally recognised requirements for sustainable forest management. PEFC includes forest certification, Chain of Custody and product labelling. Fulfilling the PEFC standard requires independent third-party verification. PEFC members are national or regional forest certification schemes based on inter-governmental processes for sustainable forest management around the world. In Europe these principles were agreed at a conference of European forest ministers. More information: www.pefc.org.
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