FSC® and PEFC certified paper – what does it mean?

A chain-of-custody certificate is one way to know for certain how the wood raw material for your paper was sourced. Read on if you want to know how to tell your FSC® from your PEFC.

What is a chain-of-custody certificate?

A chain-of-custody certification, such as FSC® or PEFC, guarantees that the fibre raw material used for the paper doesn’t come from an unacceptable source. It shows that it can be traced all the way from the forest to the point of sale.

The chain of custody certification guarantees that the wood:

  • has not been harvested illegally
  • is not in conflict with the rights of indigenous people
  • does not come from forests with high conservation values or natural forests that have been converted to plantations, and 
  • is not genetically modified.

 

Why is an FSC® or PEFC certificate important?

For us as a paper supplier, it guarantees to our customers that we are in control of our supply chain, and that there is no uncertainty surrounding the origins of the wood used in our products.

Is all paper from Holmen certified?

All the raw material we at Holmen use complies with the requirements for controlled wood according to the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC ID-FSC-C020071) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest certification (PEFC/05-33-134), regardless of whether it’s certified or not. Customers who require FSC®, PEFC or EU Ecolabel-certified paper need to request it when ordering.

60% of the world's certified forests are PEFC-certified. That's more than 300,000,000 hectares of forest ...

... and 210 million hectares in the world are certified according to FSC®. Approximately 95 million hectares hold both certifications.

Want to know more about sustainability in Holmen?

Here are some recommendations if you want more detailed information about how sustainability is core to us:

Books and spruce twig on white wooden background

Climate impact study

Which paper is actually best from a climate perspective? This was a question Penguin Random House asked. Holmen BOOK had the lowest carbon footprint of all the papers in the study.

Read about the results
EcoVadis Platinum medal 2023 paper supplier

EcoVadis Platinum

Holmen's paper mills were awarded EcoVadis Platinum medal 2023, for the seventh consecutive year.

Read about EcoVadis
fsc certified spruce forest

FSC® and PEFC certified paper

A chain-of-custody certificate is the only way to know for certain how your paper was sourced.

Paper profile documents for Holmen Paper

How to use the Paper Profile

The Paper Profile is an environmental product declaration that makes it easy to compare paper from different manufacturers.

Paper profiles
skogsväg

LCA study of fresh fibre vs recycled paper

A life cycle analysis creates an overall picture of the extent of the product's total environmental impact throughout its life cycle.

Forest in dawn fog

Environmental sustainability

With nature as the starting point in everything we do, climate issues are very closely integrated with our business. This applies both to our ability to contribute to positive development and how our business may be affected by a changing climate.

More about climate