5 things you didn’t know about FSC®

What is FSC?

The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) is a global, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of responsible forest management worldwide. It enables businesses and consumers to make informed choices about the forest products they buy and creates positive change by engaging the power of market dynamics. FSC system allows businesses and consumers to identify, purchase and use wood, paper and other forest products made with materials from well-managed forests and/or recycled sources.

As a member of an FSC Certified Group (FSC-C004309), Print4UK clients can demonstrate to their clients, through the use of FSC labels, that the chain of custody of paper their publications or products have been printed on have been checked at every stage of processing and can be certified from forest to end-user.

However, despite FSC being one of the most well-known organisations dedicated to making our forest sustainable, there are still things not many people know about this great organisation.

1. The FSC operates in over 100 markets

FSC is not just prominent within the print industry. Many household names are FSC certified and when you go shopping you will see lots of products will have the FSC label upon them. Some everyday products that use FSC certified materials for their packaging include, Kleenex tissues, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and many beauty products such as moisturisers and sunscreen. As a member of an FSC Certified Group (FSC-C004309), Print4UK is proud to be able to offer our clients this reassurance and commercial advantage.

2. Every decision is open to the public and their members

FSC is democratically governed by their members. This allows the organisation to have its members’ best interests at the centre of its running. It has over 800 members from social, economic and environmental standpoints, and because of the different points of view, this allows FSC to be run effectively.

3. FSC are a member of the ISEAL alliance

But what is the ISEAL alliance? The alliance is a global membership association for credible sustainability standards. Other members of the ISEAL alliance are the Marine Stewardship Council, Rainforest Alliance and, one more commonly known, Fairtrade. So, by being a member of an FSC Certified Group Scheme (FSC-C004309) we are indirectly part of a much wider family supporting responsible and sustainable production.

4. FSC have certified 201,655,347 hectares of forest.

That equates to nearly half a million acres. To visualise this: that’s nearly 34,119 Manhattans or 1,420,052 Hyde parks. So, in short this means that 35,000 Manhattan’s worth of forest is being responsibly managed by the forest stewardship council.

5. WWF® are a keen supporter of FSC

The Forest Stewardship Council has backing from the WWF, the world’s leading independent conservation organisation.

Being a member of an FSC Certified Group (FSC-C004309) is not just about giving our clients a commercial edge or enhancing their ecological credentials, it is also about being a genuine contributor to tackling climate change. We love to talk about the environment and what we are doing to make ourselves more sustainable so why not check out some of our vlogs or articles in our newsletter or even give us a call and pop in for a cup of coffee – obviously we won’t be using plastic cups!

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