Members of the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment Ireland (ACE Ireland) – 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 Ireland members met the targets committed to in 2007, that 100 per cent 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 1st January to 31st 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 Ireland members are Chain of Custody-certified.
- All of the mills and traders which supply liquid packaging board (LPB) to the ACE members were Chain of Custody-certified.
Commenting, Chief Executive of ACE Ireland, Richard Hands said: “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 Ireland members have a clear interest in ensuring that forests are responsibly managed as, on average, 75 per cent 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 Mr Hands.
