Stakeholders from around the world are invited to give feedback on the revised Slovak Forest Certification Scheme. Deadline for comments is 27 January 2022. Give your feedback. PEFC Slovakia revised the country’s national forest certification system following the entry into force of the revised 2018 PEFC Sustainable Forest Management standard. The Slovakian system was submitted to PEFC after being revised in line with PEFC requirements. The national system is now undergoing the PEFC assessment process, carried out by an independent PEFC Registered Assessor. It must pass this assessment to maintain its PEFC endorsement.

Last October, storm "Vaia" hit northern Italy with 150 km per hour winds, damaging forests in Trentino, Friuli, Veneto and Lombardy – the regions that provide two thirds of all Italian timber. The winds knocked down 20 million trees – over 8.5 million cubic metres of wood – equal to the amount of wood harvested in five to seven years of average silviculture. Regional governments estimated damages of more than a billion euros. No single event of extreme weather had ever caused such extensive destruction to Italian forests. But also the reaction it triggered appeared, in its own way, unprecedented. In the aftermath of the disaster, PEFC Italy launched a ‘fair supply chain’ to mitigate the environmental and socio-economic impact. They urged public forestry consortia, mountain communities and private firms to collect and purchase timber from the damaged forests at fair prices.

Recycling your old electronics is about to become easier than ever. Best Buy is introducing a new nationwide, easy-to-use program that allows you to recycle all your old tech – by mail! Starting this month, you can order a prepaid Best Buy Technology Recycling Box and ship off your old electronics for recycling. Through the service, we will give your tech a second life or recycle it responsibly to protect the environment. “We continue to build on our commitment to be there for our customers throughout the entire lifecycle of their products by making recycling simple and convenient,” said Tim Dunn, Best Buy’s head of environmental sustainability. “Sustainability is at the forefront of everything we do and this new service is another step we are taking to protect the planet today and for future generations.”