Mass launch of FSC-labeled newspapers in Denmark
Since the 1st of August, nine Danish newspapers are displaying the FSC label every day.
And this may only be the beginning of an even more significant development: For the first time in history, all consumer-paid newspapers in a country may now opt for the FSC label.
Procurement organization plays a key role
The Joint Procurement Organization of the Danish Press (Pressens Fællesindkøb, PF), plays a big part in the Danish media’s strong commitment to FSC. The association is owned by the Danish press and procures the paper used for all consumer-paid newspapers in Denmark - 1.5 million copies per day.
Michael K. Jakobsen, senior auditor at NEPCon, comments: “This is a landmark achievement. By making the FSC label visible to thousands of consumers every day, the newspapers are contributing tremendously to raise public awareness of the FSC logo. This is only possible based on the efforts made by PF and its paper suppliers”.
Despite the fact that Danish media are fierce competitors, they still manage to collaborate along the inner lines, for the overall benefit of the press. The Joint Procurement Organization of the Press (PF) represents strong collaboration among the press around paper procurement.
Inter-Scandinavian collaboration
The FSC adventure of the Danish press started last year with the joint commitment of 3 national newspapers and PF to achieve FSC-labeling of these papers.
The first labeled newspapers left the printing machines on the 1st of December 2009. Together with a Dutch financial newspaper launched a few weeks earlier, they were the world’s first FSC-labeled daily papers.
After a successful launch, it was decided to extend the offer to all of the Danish newspapers serviced by PF.
To achieve that goal, PF worked intensively with its key suppliers in Norway and Sweden. "For this purpose, we needed to convince our paper suppliers to supply sufficient amounts of FSC-certified paper”, says Thomas Isaksen, Director of PF. “We managed to enter agreements with four suppliers – Norske Skog, Holmen, Stora Enso and SCA - for the year 2010. This formed the basis for implementing the second phase of the project, which culminated on the 1st of August”.
Today, close to all of the paper procured by PF is FSC-certified. Only a few specialty paper qualities used for specific purposes (such as for colored newspapers or special inserts) are still not available with the FSC claim.
PF (SW-COC-004480) obtained FSC certification by the Rainforest Alliance based on NEPCon’s services on the 18th of November 2009.
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Source: Pressens Fællesindkøb
