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PEFCUK NEWS www.pefc.co.uk
issue 24 April 2012
World first for LONDON 2012 and project certification As the countdown to this summer’s main sporting event continues, the entire London 2012 Olympic Park development has achieved dual Project Certification from PEFC and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) schemes for its timber usage —the first dual Project Certification in the world. This groundbreaking achievement in sustainable timber procurement has played a prominent role in helping the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) achieve its commitment of making the London 2012 Olympic Games the greenest games ever with 100% of wood products supplied certified as legal and sustainable. The Games’ East London site comprises of seven major venues across the 246-hectare Olympic Park and needed to be managed on a daily basis for the thousands of timber products entering the site. The ambitious approach was driven forward by the establishment of the Timber Supplier Panel that embedded strict policy and procurement procedures and implemented a robust delivery management system. Stakeholders and their supply chains were educated about sustainable timber and the key requirement for unbroken chain of custody. The Project Certification ceremony took place in March at the Olympic Park Site with the Soil Association presenting certificates to Dr Peter Bonfield, Head of
FSC working in partnership to ensure that the levels of legal and sustainable timber procured by the ODA achieved the highest possible target.
Construction Products at the ODA and Noah Bold, Park Operations Environment & Sustainability Manager. The development was audited by the Soil Association’s Woodmark and is being hailed as a major achievement that might serve as a future model for timber procurement for large-scale projects in the future. The scheme also saw PEFC and
SAVE the date This year, PEFC is trialling a new format for its Annual General Meeting. A short Members’ Meeting will take place on the morning of Tuesday 26 June in London. Invitations with more detailed information are being sent to members shortly. 2
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SAVE the date This year, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development RIO+20 will take place in Brazil on 20-22 June. The event marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).
This will be followed by PEFC UK’s inaugural stakeholder event on the theme of risk mitigation in the procurement of wood-based products. An interesting array of high level speakers has been lined up from a range of sectors including retail, timber, print management and consultancy. We hope what they say will be of interest to stakeholders from all sectors trading and using PEFC-certified products.
The main objective behind RIO+20 is to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess world progress to date and address new and emerging challenges for green building and ethical trading. It will involve Heads of State, Government Ministers and many top-level representatives from across the globe.
The meeting, which is free and open to all stakeholders, will be chaired by Lord Lindsay, Chairman of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). It starts at 2:15 pm on 26 June and will close with a Drinks Reception in the Belgrave Square home of the Society of Chemical Industries. Further details will be on the UK website shortly but places are strictly limited so if you’d like to reserve your place now, please email hilary.khawam@pefc.co.uk
Lord Lindsay, Chairman of UKAS
Many thanks to those of you who demonstrated your support for a common set of principles to advance sustainable forest management by signing the Rio Forest Declaration back in January. The Declaration has now been submitted to the UN for consideration.
certified timber from around the globe Last month, PEFC UK joined forces with fellow members of PEFC’s global network, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) to exhibit at Ecobuild 2012. Participating in the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment enabled us to raise awareness of the issues surrounding the supply of legal and sustainable timber into the UK market. PEFC UK were also there to promote our updated guidelines for Project Chain of Custody certification; suitable for projects from newbuild commercial and office buildings, to housing projects and renovation and refurbishment schemes, to virtually any work that involves wood.
To help understand the vast and complex resource of tropical timber, the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) provided information about Malaysia’s sustainable forestry management methods. Visitors were also able to find out more about the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) and its work certifying Malaysian forests and raw materials, to provide a sustainable timber which is ideal for construction, decking, cladding and interior applications.
Ecobuild provides us with an excellent forum to engage with a broad range of stakeholders from across the timber and construction industry and have therefore already committed to next year’s show.
UK Contractors send strong signal on timber The UK Contractors Group (UKCG) has agreed a new statement on timber procurement and given a major boost to sustainable timber sourcing and supply for the UK construction industry. All timber products purchased for either temporary or permanent use on UKCG member sites will be certified as legally and sustainably sourced, as defined by the UK Government’s Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET).
CPET currently approves two certification schemes as providing evidence of legal and sustainable sourcing – FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification). PEFC acts as an umbrella organisation recognising over 30 national schemes, including the North American Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and the Malaysian Timber Council System (MTCS) scheme. These are now all acceptable with the appropriate Chain of Custody documentation for UKCG use. This UKCG decision gives clear and transparent preference to products that demonstrate compliance with responsible sourcing schemes and certified by a third party. To maintain an unbroken chain of custody, all members of the UKCG will work to a common reporting method and provide documentary evidence, to demonstrate compliance with the stringent auditing process that PEFC certification provides. The statement comes 12 months ahead of the introduction of new EU regulations. The Illegal Timber Regulation (ITR) – now commonly called the EUTR – will apply to all Member States from the 3 March 2013 and will make it illegal to place timber and timber products which have been illegallyharvested at the point of origin on the EU market.
The UKCG policy now delivers a clear message that the procurement of legal and sustainable timber is an essential part of any supply chain and that the adoption of CPET guidance for its member’s timber procurement procedures, enables them to tap into an inclusive, wide and diverse choice of material certified by the world’s largest forest certification organisation.
GROWING DEMAND FOR PEFC LOGO The number of publishers and brand owners now using the PEFC logo on product, to provide customers with assurance of responsible paper sourcing, continues to grow. This year saw the PEFC logo becoming ever more visible to UK consumers with Unilever adding the logo to their PG Tips packaging and 3M to their popular Post-It Notes. They join blue chip companies such as Argos, Asda, John Lewis, National Westminster and Next who already use the PEFC logo to demonstrate sustainable sourcing. Photo: Huhtamaki Ltd
NEW PUBLICATIONS Two new publications are now available free of charge from PEFC UK.
SuStainable timber PrODuCtS MarCoMMs, Print & Certified PaPer
a GuiDe tO PrOCurement fOr the PubliC SeCtOr
Sustainable Timber Products; A Guide to Procurement for the Public Sector provides information on legal and sustainable sourcing of forest products for local government procurement officials. It contains a handy template sustainable timber procurement policy which can be readily adapted. Marcomms, Print & Certified Paper provides information on the PEFC programme to those procuring paper, print and packaging on behalf of their organisations.
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Both publications can be downloaded from the website: http://www.pefc.co.uk/ news-page/publications-a-documentation/brochures-a-toolkits but if you’d like hard copies of either publication, e-mail info@pefc.co.uk.
Fresh faces FOR PEFC UK BOARD Department of Forestry in the University of Aberdeen, retiring in 2004. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters and was President from 1994 to 1996.
Hugh Miller After five years as Chairman of PEFC UK, Peter Latham OBE has moved to the PEFC International Board to continue progressing the understanding and use of certified timber and the development of sustainable sourcing and supply. He is replaced in the UK by long standing Board member Professor Emeritus, Hugh Miller OBE. Professor Miller graduated in forestry from the University of Aberdeen in 1964 and for the next two decades led research into forest bio-geochemistry at the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research. In 1981 he was awarded the Scientific Achievement Award of the International Union of Forest Research Organisations. In 1984 he was appointed Professor and Head of the
PEFC UK has also appointed two new Directors. Pat Burke is Group Purchasing Director at Arnold Laver Timber World. Pat is also a former Chair of the North East Timber Trade Association and has held positions within Forests Forever and various Timber Trade Federation commodity committees as well as serving on the Boards of the British Woodworking Federation, Proskills and the Wood Industry Training board. Also taking on a PEFC UK role will be David Leslie. David is General Manager, Harvesting & Operations for James Jones and Sons Ltd, Scotland’s largest independent sawmiller and one of the leading suppliers of British timber in the UK. He is responsible for the Group’s roundwood procurement, sawmill co-products and haulage. In addition to his PEFC role, David chairs the Private Sector Timber Forecast Group, is a member of the Grampian Forestry Forum, a board member of Strategic Integrated Research in Timber (SIRT) at the Forestry Commission and member of the Institute of Chartered Foresters.
MEET PEFC Drupa 2012 3-16 May 2012 Messe Düsseldorf GmbH For further details visit: www.drupa.com PEFC UK Annual General Meeting 26 June 2012 Country Land & Business Association 16 Belgrave Square, London SW1 For further details e-mail: info@pefc.co.uk PEFC UK Inaugural Stakeholder Meeting 26 June 2012 Society of Chemical Industries 14 Belgrave Square, London SW1 For further details e-mail: info@pefc.co.uk Illegal Logging Update and Stakeholder Consultation Number 20 5-6 July 2012 Chatham House, 10St James’s Square, London SW1 For further details visit: www.illegal-logging.info Timber Expo 2012 25-26 September 2012 Ricoh Arena, Coventry For further details visit: www.timber-expo.co.uk
Pat Burke
David Leslie