Sustainable packaging company to work with FSC International and the wider industry to shape significant improvements in certification
DS Smith, the leading provider of sustainable packaging, has today announced its membership of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) International, which promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests.
Since the acquisition and integration of Interstate Resources and more recent acquisition of Europac, DS Smith now owns over 14,000 hectares of forest assets across North America, Portugal and Spain. FSC is the world’s most trusted sustainable forest certification system. More than 200 million hectares of forest worldwide are FSC-certified, and DS Smith joins the certification system as part of its forestry stewardship policy and overarching sustainable approach to management.
Sam Jones, Sustainability Strategy Manager at DS Smith commented: “Chain of custody certification schemes have value where they credibly substantiate a sustainable product story to a consumer, usually through data and supply chain traceability and transparency. There is still work to be done and certification schemes like the FSC need to continually evolve to make use of the best methodology and technologies for collecting, analysing and sharing supply chain data. DS Smith will work with FSC to improve the sharing of e-supply chain data securely without compromising commercially sensitive information.”
Jeremy Harrison, Chief Marketing Officer at FSC International commented: “We recognise that we cannot solve complex environmental issues on our own. Collaboration with stakeholders – including with businesses like DS Smith – is crucial in continuing to develop the effectiveness of certification. Collaboration drives the innovation required to improve our system and continue to create value for the end consumer, communities and the environment.”
Forest management and chain of custody certifications are a minimum requirement for the paper and cardboard industry, and DS Smith has this in place across its global footprint to reinforce that it only has responsibly managed and sustainably harvested virgin material in its products.
This is particularly important as consumers become more and more interested in the provenance of products, which must be supported by accurate data. Today’s consumers increasingly want to know exactly from where the wood or paper was sourced, and that it was sustainably managed.
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