Incorporation of sustainability criteria in the selection of materials of forest origin
At Vicente Gandia Pla, we started a sustainability project in 2020, within the framework of our environmental management system certified according to ISO 14001. One of the objectives of this project is to review the packaging materials of our products, a green purchasing strategy, incorporating various environmental criteria.
As a result of this strategy and overall direction, we will change all of our anonymous cartons (without design) over to raw cardboard instead of the current white, which will reduce the environmental impact derived from the use of chemical products for their bleaching.
With this change, we are pleased to confirm that all of these new cartons will have a certificate of origin from responsible sources (FSC® mixed recycling) and will be stamped as such. This criterion will be gradually expanded to more references to cover all the products of forest origin that are used in our products: cardboard, cork and wood.
Vicente Gandia Pla, S.A. has opted for this certification for its recognition and reliability at an international level and for being aligned with our values in relation to the protection of the environment and human rights, among other key environmental and social values.
Forest Stewardhip Council®(FSC®) standards are based on ten basic principles designed to:
- At the environmental level: preventing deforestation and degradation and safeguarding biodiversity, water quality and carbon storage.
- At the social level: respect the rights of workers, indigenous people, and local communities.
- At the economic level: building markets and creating equitable access to benefits.
FSC® standard is a Chain of Custody (CoC) certification, so it certifies every step of the path taken by products from the forest (or in the case of recycled materials from the moment when the material is reclaimed), to the point where the product is sold with an FSC® claim and/or it is finished and FSC ® labelled. The CoC therefore includes each of the stages of procurement, processing, trade and distribution.
Any change of ownership in the supply chain of FSC-certified products requires the establishment of an FSC® certified CoC management system, if the organization wants to make an FSC claim about their products.
Therefore, an FSC® certified final product guarantees that all materials involved in its manufacture are originate from responsibly managed forests, controlled sources, recovered materials or a combination of these.
Article written by:
Laia Esteve,
Quality and sustainability Manager
