Cottonsoft retail products use paper certified through the world’s largest forest certification system, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC);

PEFC’s Sustainability Benchmarks include requirements to:

  • Safeguard ecologically important forest areas
  • Protect and enhance biological diversity
  • Prohibit forest conversions
  • Prohibit most hazardous chemicals
  • Prohibit genetically modified trees
  • Respect the rights of workers and indigenous peoples
  • Encourage local employment
  • Comply with fundamental ILO conventions
  • Provide consultation with local people and stakeholders
  • Respect traditional land rights and local customs

Facts and figures

More than 325 million hectares of forest area (or 800 million acres) are managed in compliance with PEFC’s internationally accepted Sustainability Benchmarks – that’s roughly the size of Egypt, South Africa and Turkey combined. Two-thirds of all certified forests globally are certified to PEFC.

To date, more than 20,000 companies across 70 countries have obtained PEFC Chain of Custody Certification, including Cottonsoft Ltd. That equals one-third of all Chains of Custody globally.

In New Zealand, our plants have PEFC Chain of Custody (CoC) certification. This carries a responsibility to ensure that 100% of our raw materials for certified products are either PEFC certified or are non-controversial sources under PEFC.

There are two internationally recognised certification schemes in the world, the largest of which is PEFC. Both schemes prompt substantial, important changes in forest management to improve environmental, social and economic outcomes.

PEFC stands for sustainability.

PEFC is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) through Forest and Chain of Custody independent third-party certification.

Forest certification assures that forests are managed in line with challenging environmental, social, and economic requirements.

Chain of Custody certification enables certified material to be tracked from forest to the final product and ensures that wood fibre is legal, traceable and from sustainably managed forests.

PEFC is about the supply of Certified Product and Chain of Custody certification enables certified material to be tracked from forest to the final product and ensures that wood fibre is legal, traceable and from sustainably managed forests. This ensures that two views are covered – this being Sustainable Forest Management and sourcing of Wood & Paper Products as well as Legal Forest Management and sourcing of Wood & Paper Products.

Cottonsoft and PEFC

Cottonsoft’s PEFC Due Diligence Procedures require our suppliers of paper raw material to complete a Supplier Evaluation and Risk Assessment (SERA). The purpose of the SERA is to ensure that we use paper from sustainable sources that comply with at least one of the following certification/verification schemes.

  • Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) Chain of Custody – which ensures that claims about products originating in sustainably managed forests are credible and verifiable throughout the whole supply chain.
  • The Indonesian Wood Legality Verification System (SVLK) – a rigorous chain of custody process designed to ensure that mills only receive and process timber from legal sources, and that all products exported from Indonesia are traceable to verifiable points of origin.
  • The Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute (LEI) Chain of Custody – certifies that the product is produced from a source that is managed based on environmental values, economical principles, and social norms.
  • Timber Legality & Traceability Verification (TLTV) – an independent third party verification that assures forest management companies as well as everyone else working within the timber supply chain that timber products are produced in compliance with the relevant legality and chain of custody criteria.
  • Non-Controversial under PEFC Guidelines – verification that the product has originated from a source that has been legally verified according to non-controversial requirements under PEFC guidelines.
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