Supporting businesses to benefit fully from PEFC certification

Innovation

The 2018 Collaboration Fund is supporting the development of an online platform that will provide companies with the tools they need to further their advantages from PEFC certification.

Over 20,000 companies worldwide have achieved PEFC Chain of Custody certification. These range from large, multinational corporations to small family-run businesses, and everything in between.

PEFC Chain of Custody certification enables companies to demonstrate their responsible sourcing practices of forest based materials, such as timber, paper and packaging. Thanks to their PEFC certification, they can prove the sustainable origin of their products and highlight their commitment to the sustainable management of our forests.

However, for the thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), without a dedicated marketing department, it can be difficult for them to promote their PEFC certification effectively. This means they can be unable to take full advantage of the benefits their certification brings.

Online PEFC platform 

In response, PEFC Italy, PEFC International and several other PEFC members, have come together to develop an online platform to provide these companies with the tools and information they need to benefit fully from their certification.

Financed by the 2018 PEFC Collaboration Fund, the platform will host a range of tools, from graphics, images, videos, guides and FAQs, to example text and interactive templates. These tools will be available in range of languages and tailored to different national requirements.

While many of these tools are already available at national level, the platform will bring them together, into one, easy to access location. We anticipate that additional tools and languages will be added to the platform over the next few years.

The development of the platform and tools will take place 2019-2020, with the first version of the platform expected to go online by the end of 2020.