Staples

The agreement was signed with the Rainforest Alliance last week and is an important part of Staples' ongoing work to move the majority of paper products it offers by weight in the U.S. to FSC certification by the end of 2010, based on availability of supply and market conditions.
 

Changing the market through positive demand

All 1,550 Staples Copy & Print Centers throughout the US already use FSC-certified paper with 50 percent FSC-recycled content as the standard offering for high-speed black and white copies.

In addition, Staples has encouraged its suppliers to improve their forest management practices and seek FSC certification, rather than seeking new FSC-certified sources.

"Staples' commitment to sustainability goes largely unspoken," said Mark Comolli, director of the Rainforest Alliance's sustainable forestry market program. "Through their powerful market influence, they have been able to help change the market and spur companies and forest managers to practice responsible forest management.."

 
Switch to environmentally high-performing suppliers

Staples has increased purchases from Domtar, a Canadian paper company offering high volumes of FSC-certified paper. In 2008, the company disengaged with Singapore-based Asia Pulp & Paper, one of the world's largest paper companies, because of the supplier's poor environmental record.

"Sustainability is a core part of how Staples operates its business and makes decisions about the products we offer customers," said Mark Buckley, vice president of environmental affairs at Staples. "Rainforest Alliance is a tremendous resource as we seek paper suppliers that share our commitments to producing sustainable paper-based products, conserving and protecting forests and supporting local communities."

About Smart Sourcing

The Rainforest Alliance's SmartSource program is a customized service for companies and organizations that want to examine and improve their forest-product purchasing policies and practices. The goal of the program is to assist a company with establishing responsible purchasing policies and implementing a responsible sourcing program that, gradually but steadily moves suppliers toward more sustainable practices and Forest Stewardship Council-certified sourcing. Other companies participating in the Rainforest Alliance's SmartSource program include Scholastic, The Coca Cola Company, Gibson, Unilever and Kraft.

As the representative of the Rainforest Alliance Forestry Program in Europe and Russia, NEPCon offers SmartSourcing services to organizations based in this region.

Source: the Rainforest Alliance