According to the seventh annual Proforest report on the Chain of Custody (CoC) commitment made in 2007 by Alliance for Beverage Cartons & the Environment (ACE) members – Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc – 93% of wood fibre purchased globally by these companies in 2013 was either FSC certified fibre or originated from FSC controlled wood. This is compared to 88% in 2012.
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.
100% of the fibre already used in the EU already comes from plants that are FSC chain of custody certified. In addition, 46 (89%) of the 52 converting plants owned by ACE beverage carton producers worldwide are now FSC chain of custody certified, which is up from 81% in 2012.
This means there are only six 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 Proforest report that good 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.
“It is also good news that only six more converting plants need to be certified to meet our commitment of 100% CoC certification of all beverage carton manufacturing plants by 2018.”
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.
“ACE members have a clear interest in ensuring that forests are responsibly managed as, on average, 75% of a beverage carton is made from this natural renewable material,” said Hands.
Source: ACE UK
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