ACE UK members build on commitment to verified traceability of wood fibre
Members of the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK) – Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc – are continuing to build on their commitment to wood fibre traceability achieved in 2015, according to the 10th Proforest report on the industry’s Chain of Custody (CoC) progress.
In 2015 ACE UK members met the targets committed to in 2007, that 100% of wood fibre purchased globally by the member companies was either FSC certified or FSC controlled wood. Proforest, an independent organisation working in the field of natural resource management, recently carried out a tenth progress update to cover the period of 1 January to 31 December 2019. The report shows that the companies have continued to make progress on their commitments and extend this across their supply chain. The report shows:
- All 46 of the manufacturing plants operated by the three ACE UK members are Chain of Custody-certified
- All of the mills and traders which supply LPB (liquid packaging board) to the ACE members were Chain of Custody-certified
Richard Hands, Chief Executive of ACE UK commented: “The latest report from Proforest illustrates the beverage carton industry’s continuing commitment to ensuring sustainable sourcing of its raw materials and incorporating this commitment into their business strategies.”
Responsibly sourced, renewable materials have a key role to play in supporting a low carbon circular economy. In Sweden and Finland, where most of the wood fibre for European food and drink cartons originates, forests are expanding with growth in forest volume increasing year-on-year as annual growth exceeds cuttings.
“ACE UK members have a clear interest in ensuring that forests are responsibly managed as, on average, 75% of a food or beverage carton is made from this natural renewable material.
“Traceability is one of our industry’s key strategies in ensuring the responsible sourcing of primary raw materials, which is, in turn, critical to achieving sustainable economic growth”, concluded Hands.
A copy of the tenth Proforest report can be downloaded below.
About the commitment:
The commitment of ACE members is two-fold and global. First, the three beverage carton manufacturers, Tetra Pak, Elopak, SIG Combibloc committed by 2015 to reach 100% wood fibre that is traceable to legal and acceptable sources, using processes that have been independently verified. The scope includes all wood fibres used in mills producing paperboard for the three companies. Second they committed to secure by 2018, chain of custody certification for all their carton manufacturing plants. Within the European Union, 100% of the wood used for the production of beverage cartons already comes from paper mills that have an FSC-certified Chain of Custody in place.
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