
Source Fibre Responsibly
- End sourcing of fibre from unknown and illegal sources, suppliers or operations.
- End the use of fibre from, and avoid suppliers associated with loss of, endangered forests and high conservation value forests, ecosystems and habitats.
- End the use of fibre from, and avoid suppliers associated with, conversion of natural forests or other high conservation value ecosystems into plantations for paper fibre.
- End the use of fibre from, and avoid suppliers associated with, loss or degradation of peatlands and high carbon stock forests.
- End the use of fibre, and avoid suppliers, associated with human or labor rights violations.
- Source any virgin wood fibre for paper from forest managers that have credible, independent, third-party certification for employing the most environmentally and socially responsible forest management and restoration practices. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is currently the only international certification programme that comes close to meeting this goal.
- Avoid sourcing from and promoting misleading and environmentally irresponsible forest certification programs.
- Support the development and use of sustainably grown and harvested alternative crops for paper where credible analysis indicates that they are environmentally and socially preferable to other virgin fibre sources and do not lead to loss of necessary food crops or high conservation value ecosystems.
- Eliminate use of toxic, bio-accumulative or persistent pesticides and herbicides in fibre production.
- Refuse fibre from genetically modified organisms.
- Replace ‘far’ with ‘near,’ using sustainably produced, locally-sourced fibre and minimising transportation wherever possible.
Relevant Reports
News and Resources Related to Responsible Sourcing
Paper Excellence whistleblowers and investigative journalism project lead to calls for parliamentary hearings in Canada
In November 2021, the relatively small and privately owned company, Paper Excellence, acquired Domtar, a major, publicly-traded North American uncoated freesheet paper and packaging producer that today has 11 pulp and paper mills and 9 manufacturing and converting...
Chile on fire. Civil society had warned about the risks and demanded to change the forestry model
Five days of raging fires have already burned more than a thousand homes and more than 200,000 hectares,[1] with more than 200 active outbreaks[2] and the loss of 26 lives between the regions of Ñuble and Los Ríos, territories dominated by exotic monoculture tree...
World Bank affiliate IFC approves loan for Suzano’s unsustainable project in Cerrado, ignoring warning from 40+ environmental groups
Christmas came early for Suzano, but at the cost of the world’s most biodiverse savannah: the Cerrado biome in Brazil. Last Friday, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank, approved a USD 725 million loan to Suzano to build a new giant...
Paraguay, the next catch of the pulp industry
Landscape in the Gran Chaco, Paraguay, May 2004. Photo by Ilosuna. Creative Commons Attribution 1.0 (Generic). After taking over vast tracts of land in all South America, the pulp & paper industry is now expanding in Paraguay. Paracel, a joint venture...
After winning new markets with promises, Asia Pulp and Paper picks up its old deforestation habit again
A new report released by the NGO coalition, Eyes on the Forest, has exposed a new case of deforestation by Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) via its controlled timber suppliers PT Arara Abadi and PT Sekato Pratama Makmur (SPM). The report finds that the company cleared...
Flushing the Climate: Which U.S. Stores are Still Selling the World’s Most Destructive Toilet Paper?
9 years after their highly publicized Forest Conservation Policy was announced, monitoring by Indonesian and international NGOs finds Asia Pulp and Paper is failing to keep its promises, damaging the climate and harming local communities in Indonesia. EPN-North...
Featured Member: Greenpeace
Greenpeace is one of the most visible environmental organisations in the world. Peter Gerhardt from EPN reached out to Grant Rosoman, Senior Advisor, Forest Solutions at Greenpeace International. Why did you become an environmentalist? I was always interested in...
Stolen land and fading forests in Chile
A new report from the Environmental Paper Network reveals another case of “Conflict Plantations,” this time in Chile. Since May 7th the military police have been sent again to garrison Araucania, Southern-central Chile, where the pulp & paper industry is...
Korean Paper Company Plunders the Last Rainforests While Continuing to Claim Operations are Eco-Friendly
Year long Investigation Reveals Deforestation Throughout Pulp & Paper Supply Chain Merauke, Papua, Indonesia (15 March, 2022) — A new investigation released today by Environmental Paper Network (EPN), Mighty Earth, Pusaka, Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC), Korean...
Domtar Deal, Deforestation and Abuses: Whose Side are Banks On?
Last July, Andrea Paul received a letter containing a drawing of an Indigenous person and a Black person hanging from a tree. The caption said, "This is what I think of Natives and Blacks. You think you rule the world." Miss Paul is the traditional Chief of the First...
Pulp mill in Sumatra connected to fires and respiratory illness plans to triple production
For Immediate Release Palembang - Today, over 30 civil society organisations sent a letter to investors of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), part of the Sinar Mas Group, explaining why the expansion of APP’s OKI Pulp and Paper Mill in Sumatra, Indonesia would risk the...
Walking for forests: local communities’ weeks long march to protest their land destruction
Togu Simorangkir lives in North Sumatra. A postgraduate from Oxford University, he is an author and environmental activist. Over the past weeks, he marched for 42 days, walking with friends across Sumatra for approximately 1500 km, and reaching Jakarta a few days ago....