News
Eco-News Update
[return]
PIRA report predicts significant growth in demand for FSC & PEFC certified materials.
A recent chain-of-custody market study by Pira International revealed that global FSC paper consumption will grow by 48.7% to nearly 6.5 million tonnes in 2012. The report – entitled Global Markets for Chain-of-Custody Certified papers - also estimates PEFC paper consumption will grow by 92.7% to almost 2 million tonnes over the same period. A continued upward demand for certified and COC paper should continue for the next five years, following the pace of forest acreage certification as well as COC programme licensing and implementation
End users in North America and Europe are expected to drive demand for certification not only in their own regions but also in developing nations that increasingly are supplying the wood and pulp but have not yet focused strongly on certifying their fibre. The push for more certified and ultimately COC paper comes from a number of directions.
While harmful and irresponsible logging continues to be a major driver, other include:
- Increasing awareness of global warming has resulted in the spotlight being cast on the “carbon footprint” of companies and production processes.
- The rapid build up of paper production in developing counties with large populations has raised the demand on forests to provide enough fibre.
- Some corporate purchasers see COC papers as giving them a competitive edge and/or protecting their company against negative publicity i.e. as a form of risk management.
- The increased demand for environmental papers has put added pressure on the supply of recycled fibre,creating the opportunity for COC paper to be offered as another alternative. An added advantage is that certification may have an advantage for market growth in the near future because it is less expensive than the investment cost required to build new recycling infrastructure.
With our new eco-drive and renewed focus on being a sustainable organization by embracing a comprehensive environmental programme including COC forest fibre certification, recycled content, and clean production processes; these market projections bode well for us at Smith & McLaurin, now strategically positioned as the
supplier of “first resort” for environmentally friendly products.
References:
Pira International: Global Markets for Chain-of-Custody Certified papers and other studies.
RISI Website: www.risiinfo.com
Posted on 09 February, 2009
