Where do the products we buy come from? How are they made? What impact do they have on the environment? These are just some of the questions people ask themselves when they buy a certain product and ict is this information that plays an important role in purchasing decisions, not only for consumers, but also for businesses.
In recent years there has been a greater awareness and a growing interest in issues related to environmental protection. As a result, attention has also been paid to the materials that make up a product such as wood, which is considered the sustainable material par excellence.
Through FSC certification, the Forest Stewardship Council™, which is the main guarantee mechanism on the origin of wood or paper, also Effebi (FSC-C140814) has decided to make known its commitment to the environment.
FSC certification for companies:
2. What are the advantages of FSC certification for a company?
3. Why Effebi has chosen to adhere to the FSC standards?
1. What is FSC certification?
The FSC mark represents an international certification, specific for the forest sector and the products (wood and non-wood) derived from forests, which guarantees a forest management that is respectful of the environment, socially useful and economically sustainable. It therefore indicates that the raw material derives from forests that are managed following strict quality and respect standards.
FSC-certified companies wishing to use FSC labels on the products they manufacture must first obtain the Chain of Custody (CoC) certification that guarantees the traceability of materials from FSC-certified forests. The latter is essential if you want to be able to apply the FSC labels on its products and consequently sell them as certificate. With this the FSC certified company can guarantee the customer the origin of the wood or paper used for its products and therefore demonstrate in a correct, transparent and controlled way its own active and responsible contribution to nature and its resources.
In products bearing the FSC mark, in addition to certified virgin material, recycled materials and controlled wood can also be contained: in this way consumers are fully guaranteed on the origin of the purchased materials.
The FSC organization
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was founded in 1993 as an international non-governmental organization, independent and non-profit, with the aim of promoting responsible management of forests and plantations.
It is composed of ONG and environmental groups (such as WWF, Greenpeace), social groups (National Aboriginal Forestry Association of Canada), forest owners, industries that trade and work wood and paper (Tetra Pak, Mondi), organised large-scale distribution groups, researchers and technicians. In more detail FSC has 28,000 certificate holders (CH), in 81 countries and works constantly with 150,000 small forest owners and numerous indigenous communities around the world.
In Italy, FSC was founded in 2001 as a non-profit association following the purpose and the mission of FSC International: “Promote an environmentally appropriate, socially, beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests".
Responsible forest management means protecting the natural environment, real benefits for populations, local communities, workers and economic efficiency.
How many types of FSC certifications exist?
FSC® releases three types of certifications:
- Forest Management (Forest Management, FM)
- Chain of Custody (CoC)
- Controlled Wood (Controlled Wood, CW)
Forest Management is issued to forest managers and owners whose work meet the requirements of the FSC principles and criteria.
The Chain of Custody (CoC), as already mentioned, is fundamental as it represents the necessary condition for a product to be sold as certificated.
The Wood Controlled certification is instead able to guarantee high standards even for uncertified material: in fact, controlled wood is a material that can be mixed with the certified one, for the realization of products that are labeled as FSC Mixed.
What are the products that can carry the FSC® brand?
Among these we find not only those of certified virgin material but also recycled material and controlled wood. This aspect also contributes to ensuring transparency for the consumer regarding the origin of the purchased materials.
FSC trademarks on products
The certified products are recognizable thanks to the so-called certification labels (labels) where the FSC mark is affixed. The labels can be used by companies and be applied to the products that have obtained certification, in order to assure the customer that the produced product derives from wood and paper managed responsibly.
In more detail, we can distinguish certified products in three different categories of material, based on the composition of the products themselves.
100% FSC
The 100% FSC label is affixed to products made up exclusively of inputs from FSC certified forests.
FSC Recycled
The recycled FSC label applied to in those products in which the wood or paper they are made of comes from recycled material.
FSC Mixed
The FSC Mixed label indicates that the wood or paper used the product comes from FSC certified material, recycled material and / or controlled wood (no less than 70% of certified materials and materials recycled and /or checked).
FSC Controlled Wood: the importance of acceptable sources of provenance
Controlled Wood is a separate category of the FSC system, although it is not FSC certified, controlled wood can not be harvested:
- Illegally
- In violation of traditional rights and indigenous peoples
- In forests where high conservation values (HCV) are threatened
- In forests that are converted into plantations or in non-forest use
- In forests where genetically modified trees are planted
The FSC® labels therefore tell the story behind every single product: its history and its path that starts with the supply of wood.
A complex procedure to be followed carefully to ensure that the product has been made with properly managed forest materials. Whatever the FSC® label is, you will be sure that the product has not been created at the expense of the forest, animals, plants and people living there.
It may also happen that some certified products (a semi-finished product, a product which for aesthetic reasons does not carry additional indication with the FSC® trademark) do not physically have the certification label. Despite this, the customer will have the guarantee that he will be buying certified products thanks to the certified supplier's FSC® sales document.
2. What are the advantages of FSC certification for a company?
It is now known that the FSC® certification is one of the most accredited in the world, thanks also to the fact that FSC, in its twenty years of activity, has achieved a credible and rigorous reputation as a forest certification system. This increases the value of products that can be purchased under the FSC brand and provides significant benefits not only for FSC certified companies, such as Effebi, but also for customers and final consumers:
- Credibility
- Environmental protection
- Access to the markets
- Community involvement
How do FSC certifications increase the credibility of a company?
Regarding credibility it is appropriate to refer to the fact that anyone with an interest in sustainable forest management can become a member of the organization, which consists of three chambers (social, environmental and economic) that have equal decision-making power.
It is the members themselves of the association who elect the board of directors and make the most important decisions. Furthermore each product is totally traceable.
How do FSC certifications help in environmental protection?
The FSC forest management standards for environmental protection:- Protection of water quality
- Ban on cutting ancient forests
- Prevention for the loss of natural forest cover
- Prohibition of the use of highly toxic chemicals
- Constant control over the number of plants that are cut in the forests from which the wood comes
How FSC certifications facilitate access to markets?
Nowadays, the number of consumers, governments and public administrations requiring FSC® brand products is increasing.
Many of the world's largest companies have provisions that encourage the use of FSC® certified products.
One example is the US Green Building Council's LEED program, which provides incentives for use of FSC®-certified building materials. This means that FSC® certified companies have access to these markets and many others.
FSC certifications and community involvement
FSC® requires forest managers in public and private areas to involve members of local communities in decision-making processes and to protect the rights of indigenous peoples; in this way the voice of the community will be considered an integral part of the certification process is ensured.
FSC®, compared to other types of certification, is characterized by requiring that the result of certification audits are made public even if they are private property.
3. This is why Effebi has chosen to adhere to the FSC standards
Today Effebi also belongs to the FSC certified companies. A choice that marks the beginning of a journey that the company has decided to undertake to guarantee products made with respect to the environment and sustainability, together with the high quality that has always distinguished every phase of our work.
For our customers we are ready to offer, for their projects, products whose wood comes from certified forests, guaranteeing biodiversity and ecological processes. Working with FSC certified wood products, means making the decision to refute uncontrolled deforestation, the cutting of ancient forests, the use of highly toxic chemicals.
An important position that fully reflects the social responsibility that belongs to Effebi’s corporate philosophy, respecting the environment for an authentic sustainable development.
A choice through which the company also intends to provide positive values, by involving itself in the social fabric in which it works.
