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A company can reliably communicate on the sustainable procurement of wood-based materials with PEFC label

Responsible procurement is an integral part of a company's sustainability efforts. A company's value chains can be examined from the perspectives of economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Within your own organization, you can explore various material options and their environmental as well as cost impacts. It is also wise to carefully consider the product's packaging and the choice of materials used.

How can you reliably inform consumers that the wood used in the production of a product comes from sustainably managed forests? In product advertising, it is often claimed that products are made from wood sourced from sustainably managed forests. The EU, through its legislative initiatives, aims to combat greenwashing and reduce misleading sustainability claims directed at consumers. In the world of eco-labels, third-party verified certifications, such as PEFC, provide consumers with a trustworthy option. An external party has confirmed that the material comes from certified forests, allowing consumers to recognize these products by the PEFC label. It's good to remember that consumers place the most trust in a product's sustainability if it is domestic, has a third-party verified environmental or certification label, and involves a responsible choice of raw materials (FIBS 2022).

The use of the PEFC label on products indicates that the wood used in the product comes from certified forests and controlled sources. PEFC is the world's largest international forest certification system, promoting environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable forest management. There are 280 million hectares of PEFC-certified forests globally, and more than 20,000 companies are involved in chain of custody certification to track the origin of the wood.

You can find the PEFC label on many well-known brands that are made from certified wood-based materials. It's also worth noting that even companies outside the wood-processing chain—brand owners and retailers—can reliably communicate sustainability to stakeholders and customers using the PEFC label. For instance, even if the product itself is not wood-based, its packaging might be. In such cases, the brand owner can easily communicate the responsible origin of the packaging by using the PEFC label of the packaging manufacturer.

Companies and brand owners should consider using the PEFC label as part of their sustainability communications. If this sounds relevant to you, we recommend contacting your national PEFC office directly.