Green Certifications

Thomas Oris

Director of Purchasing, Baptista's Bakery

Industry: Food

Location: Franklin, WI, United States

Role: Packager

My opinion; their are various "Green" certifications out their I'm not sure how relevent any of them truly are. This is not meant to insult those professionals who are work closely in this area, but green washing simply has made things difficult.

With this, I would simply ask what you are trying to accomplish? Their are several means by which one can improve their sustainable footprint. You can evaluate your corrugated, conduct compression testing and other analysis to ensure you aren't over packing. You can use corrugated with levels of post consumer fiber. You can look at tray packs or wrap around cases as alternatives that will reduce the amount of corrugated you use.

In today's market, I don't believe their is any one certificate that stands out. Instead, I think it's important for the manufacturer to communicate to any and all sustainable benefits to their customers.

Boxes,Metrics & standards,Beverage

Both of these certifications are used in the US and both have their strengths and weaknesses.

However, the FSC certification is more established and recognized on a global basis and is considered by most people to be more broad in its coverage by focusing on corporate social responsibilities in addition to certifying responsible forestry management practices either directly or chain of custody verification. It is also considered to be more independent and stringent since the SFI was established through the US industry association (AFPA) and is perceived to be more business sensitive. However, the SFI certification is also considered to have a stronger audit process and places more focus on worker training processes and safety and also is more relevant to issues that matter in the US (versus issues and concerns that may be more relevant on a global basis).

So from your perspective, I would accept either one but also factor in other considerations such as energy, water, and chemical management policies and practices across the company's operations. You should also considere the strengths and weaknesses I mentioned in the context of what is more important for your organization.

Let me know if I can add anything else and you can contact me directly at 770-643-9081.

Frank Perkowski

Green Certifications

Waterboy

National Packaging Manager, DS Waters

Industry: Beverage

Location: Grand Prairie, TX, USA

Role: Packager

Thanks to both Tom and Frank for your insite. Good food for thought.

green certifications

Hello Waterboy

Do you like Coke or Pepsi? I always find it interesting when I run into someone who is one camp or the other and how diligent they are in ensuring their consumption habit has consistency. Some are fans of Pepsico and take their allegiance to the extreme and only eat at Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC ... they may even only drink Aquafina but if they aren't careful they might drink a Dasani by accident not even knowing it was a Coke brand. Usually when you ask them why they only drink Coke or Pepsi they'll tell you it's the taste. But if you remember the shopping mall taste tests back in the late 80's and early 90's you know that most people when blindfolded can't tell the difference (of course the commercials didn't spin it that way). So, it's not about taste, it's probably not about corporate allegiance either. Maybe it's about the color Blue or Red or experience they had as a child or their parents preference. I can't profess to be an expert but I'm pretty comfortable taking the stance that no one chooses Coke over Pepsi because one is better for the environment or has a more rewarding nutritional value. Expending time exercising due diligence where it counts is not a priority for the AVERAGE person.

So, SFI or FSC. I have heard pros and cons speeches from the trade at large, read lots of material and even solicited feedback from the schemes themselves directly. At the end of the day what I have learned is the decision to pick a camp becomes more elusive the more you learn about the forestry industry at large. You can't help but to uncover interesting tales about the WWF, the Rainforest Alliance, the history of SFI/AF&PA and PEFC, comparing and contrasting practices between the CoC feedstock of NIMF landowners (non-industrial private forest) and TIMO (timber investment management organizations), the way each scheme manages mixed content and credits, transparency and traceability myths, etc etc. One thing is for sure ... neither is immune to NGO criticism. Most people, when they get started on the path of enlightenment, learn that the FSC has it's pains (www.fsc-watch.org) and despite people thinking that SFI is LESS altruistic due to it's industry legacy all they have to do is Google FSC Scam and watch the fireworks.

Both programs are positive directions for the forestry preservation movement and have great potential. Both programs have massive holes in their credibility due to their inability to execute the fundamentals.

What I recommend you do is learn about what portion of North American hardwood is certified by whom and what portion of softwood is certified by whom, understand the acreage ratios, etc. As you know, fine grade paperboard is predominately a short fiber hardwood based product and corrugate is predominately a long fiber softwood product. Understanding the origins of the fiber and market coverage by each scheme seems more important to me than the more subjective opinionated dimensions of who is "better" and basing your decision on that alone.

I do have a favorite source of information that I keep bookmarked and send to people who are getting into this subject. It is a report from Yale that covers FSC and SFI. It's a little outdated but is a good start.

http://www.yale.edu/forestcertification/pdfs/2004/04_business_bleforestr...

Good luck in your endeavor to decide which you like better. I'm a Pepsi fan by the way.

Sean