Beverage Carton Industry on Track to Meet Global Wood Traceability Commitment

63% of the converting plants owned by Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc are now FSC Chain of Custody (CoC) certified. This is double the number of plants certified in 2010.

Sep 8 2011 --- Significant progress has been made by ACE (Alliance for Beverage Cartons & the Environment) beverage carton manufacturers towards achieving full certification of the wood fibre used in cartons demonstrating legality and traceability, and of the factories that produce them worldwide.

63% of the converting plants owned by Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc are now FSC Chain of Custody (CoC) certified. This is double the number of plants certified in 2010, with 33 of the 52 plants now holding certificates. In addition, 2.02 million tonnes or 78% of the fibres purchased by the three companies are now FSC certified or FSC controlled wood.

This is the conclusion of ProForest, an independent verifier of natural resource management, in its fourth annual report on the chain of custody commitment made globally by the three companies in 2007.

Their commitment is two-fold. First, the companies undertake by 2015 to reach 100% chain of custody certification of all wood fibre used in mills producing paperboard for the three beverage carton manufacturers. Second, they commit to secure by 2018 chain of custody certification for all their manufacturing plants.

Thanks to the good progress made in 2010, ProForest is confident that ACE beverage carton manufacturers will be able to meet their commitments within the specified timeframe.

“We are very pleased with our progress towards meeting our commitments” comments Katarina Molin, new Director-General of ACE.  “We are confident of our ability to build on the very positive results reported by ProForest. An increase from 16 to 33 FSC CoC certified plants is an impressive step forward and demonstrates again the commitment of the industry for a full traceability of our raw material, and its strong support for the new EU timber regulation. ”