The most visual way to understand the importance of the FSC seal is provided by Google Earth with its Timelapse tool. The transformation of forests and jungles into cultivated areas, and the massive exploitation of forest resources is giving rise to control organisms, the most important of which is the Forest Stewardship Council.
What is the role of the Forest Stewardship Council?
On the one hand, the Forest Stewardship Council is concerned with ensuring that forest resources are managed responsibly at source, providing a benefit to the environment and society. On the other, it controls through the FSC seal that the chain of custody of the materials is not broken, certifying that the paper or wood that we consume come from sustainable sources.
If at some point in the chain between the origin and the consumer this traceability were broken, its origin could not be guaranteed. This makes obtaining the FSC certificate a challenge for companies, which must analyze their supply channels and reformulate their own internal management.
Types of FSC certification
There are 3 types of FSC certificate depending on whether we are talking about production or distribution:
- Certification of Forest Management: guarantees that forest exploitation practices are responsible and sustainable.
- Certification of the Chain of Custody: verifies that the products marketed as FSC really contain certified materials through a system of traceability and custody.
- Controlled Wood: allows controlled materials to be mixed with non-certified materials but with specific guarantees. This allows the seal to be put on a mix of, for example, recycled paper with FSC paper, increasing the sustainability of the life cycle of the raw material.
Source: https://us.fsc.org/en-us/certification/forest-management-certification
If you want to know more about our certifications and how they impact the quality of printed products, you can visit our Quality section.
