Helping procurement professionals to make sustainable decisions

13 August 2015 News

Informed procurement choices can support sustainable forest management, help protect workers’ health and the rights of those who depend on forests. Increasingly, those involved in public sector and corporate purchasing are setting ambitious targets which aim to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains.

The ‘Sustainable Procurement Guide for Wood and Paper-based Products’ from the World Resources Institute (WRI) & World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is designed to help procurement professionals do just this, enabling them to make informed choices and gain a better understanding of the challenges involved in the development and implementation of procurement policies for paper, packaging and solid wood products.

With the launch of the new WRI and WBCSD infographic, procurement professionals can now get a better understanding of the concept at a glance, as they are taken through the ten things they need to know about sourcing wood and paper-based products: from environmental protection to local communities.

For a company sourcing wood-based products, knowing their supply chains helps to increase transparency and reduce risks. By sourcing these products from responsibly-managed PEFC-certified forests, organizations can demonstrate their support for well-managed forests while helping to grow markets for certified forest products.

The Guide identifies 10 key aspects, including legal, environmental and social issues, that underpin sustainable sourcing of wood and paper based products and provides useful tools to tackle these challenges:

Sourcing and legality aspects
Origin – Where do the products come from?
Information accuracy – Is information about the products credible?
Legality – Have the products been legally produced?

Environmental aspects
Sustainability – Have the forests been sustainable managed?
Unique forest values – Have unique forest values been protected?
Climate change – Have climate issues been addressed?
Environmental protection – Have appropriate environmental controls been applied?
Fresh and recycled fiber – Have fresh and recycled fiber been used appropriately?
Other resources – Have other resources been used appropriately?

Social aspects
Local communities and indigenous peoples – Have the needs of local communities or indigenous peoples been addressed?

In recent years, PEFC has noted that more and more companies from SMEs to global brands are keen to demonstrate that the fiber they use in their packaging comes from a certified sustainable source.

PEFC has been working closely with the packaging sector to promote the benefits of sourcing packaging materials from PEFC-certified sources. There is a growing demand for more environmental information to be displayed on packaging, to help consumers make informed choices, with 54% of consumers trusting environmental labels displayed on their packaging, according to the PEFC Global Consumer Survey. Retailers, brand owners and packaging suppliers can all help meet these customer demands by sourcing materials from renewable, responsibly-managed sources and using on-pack messaging to display environmental information.