Christmas Recycling

48 environmental, conservation and forest business leaders announced an agreement of principles on the important role sustainably managed forests and forest products can play in mitigating climate change. Forests in the U.S. offset 15% of the country’s industrial carbon emissions. Carbon sequestration in sustainably managed private forest lands and carbon storage in forest products can provide a natural solution to climate change while also providing a wide variety of additional benefits like clean air and water, wildlife habitat, and good paying jobs. The principles are signed by the CEOs of American Forests, American Forest Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, National Alliance of Forest Owners, The Nature Conservancy, and the CEOs of 43 forestry businesses representing over 46 million acres of working forests across the United States.

Bio-based materials are on the rise as companies strive to phase out fossil-based materials and transition to bio and circular economy. Today, non-forest bio-based materials are mixed with forest-based materials in FSC-certified products such as textiles, packaging, and furniture. Currently, non-forest bio-based materials are considered neutral in FSC-certified products and are exempt from FSC Chain-of-Custody requirements. FSC’s Circularity Hub is currently analyzing the use of non-forest bio-based materials in FSC-certified products to explore the potential of these emerging materials and FSC’s approach to them in the future. To gain insights into the actual use of bio-based materials, the Circularity Hub has launched a survey that FSC stakeholders are encouraged to participate in.

"This is a major step forward in our environmental efforts to reduce CO?emissions and make us less dependent on fossil fuels," says Johan Jonsson, Head of Södra Skogsplantor. The process to changeover Södra's nursery in Flåboda to fossil-free operation commenced three years ago. The goal has now been achieved, with boilers fuelled with vegetable oils, greenhouses heated by four pellet boilers, green electricity generated by Södra's pulp mills and vehicles that run on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).