This is according to the sixth annual Proforest report on the Chain of Custody (CoC) commitment made in 2007 by these Alliance for Beverage Cartons & the Environment (Ace) members.
The latest figure means Ace members are on track to meet their commitment to source 100% wood fibre that’s traceable to legal and acceptable sources by 2015.
00% of the fibre already used in the EU already comes from plants that are FSC chain of custody certified. In addition, 43 (81%) of the 53 converting plants owned by Ace beverage carton producers worldwide are now FSC chain of custody certified, which is up from 74% in 2011.
This means there are only 10 more converting plants to be certified to meet the Ace commitment of securing CoC certification for all beverage carton manufacturing plants by 2018.
“It is great to see that, as Proforest has stated in its report, significant progress has been made by our members towards achieving the stretching targets set in 2007,” said Richard Hands, chief executive of Ace UK. “Traceability is one of our industry’s most important strategies to combat illegal logging, and is equally important in avoiding socially and environmentally unacceptable sources of wood.”
The main raw material for the production of cartons is wood fibre, which is a renewable resource. In Sweden and Finland, where most of the wood fibre for European beverage cartons originates, forests are expanding, with growth in forest volume increasing year-on-year as annual growth actually exceeds cuttings.
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