fsc certified

Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC)

S+A recently became Australia's first furniture maker to achieve FSC certification. FSC is an internationally recognised “green” timber certification body based in Germany. FSC was chosen by S+A for its ethical integrity, especially in protecting local communities and old growth forests from illegal and unsustainable logging. FSC is the only timber certification system endorsed by the Green Building Council USA, Green Building Council of Australia, Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Key requirements of FSC include:

  • an unbroken “chain of custody” of FSC certification for all suppliers in the supply chain.
  • compliance with strict international standards governing environmental, social and economic responsibility.
  • regular audits by FSC to ensure FSC timber is not being substituted with timber from questionable sources.


Combat Climate Change - Choose Sustainable Timber

Did you know:
• Timber is the world’s “greenest” building material – it is renewable and has ultra low embodied energy.
• 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by deforestation.
• Enduring timber furniture can store captured CO2 for up to 40+ years.


Integrity of FSC

FSC is the only timber certification system known by S+A to consistently audit certified companies and to suspend certificates where companies are found to have breached their agreed FSC responsibilities. This gives us confidence that FSC has integrity rather than being used to rubberstamp questionable forestry practise. You can view a current list of all companies with suspended and valid FSC certificates on the FSC database.


Interesting Statistics

  • The Australian Institute of Criminology estimates the trade in illegally harvested timber in the Asia Pacific is worth $2 billion per annum.
  • A 2005 report for the Australian Government identified about $400 million in “illegal or unsustainably harvested wood imported to Australia.” (1)
  • Up to 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by deforestation. (2)
  • Up to 70% of wood from Indonesia is likely to be illegally logged (3), with large quantities exported for global furniture manufacture in China and Europe.

FSC in S+A Furniture:

FSC timber is currently used in S+A’s new Felix ottoman range, with FSC timber being phased into S+A’s remaining sofa collections during 2009. When FSC timber is not an option due to supply issues, S+A give preference to eco timbers from AFS or PEFC certified forests.


Sources:

  1. Australian Forest & Wood Products Statistics, March & June 2006, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) November 2006.
  2. Greenpeace website (http://www.greenpeace.org.au/blog/energy/?p=282 )
  3. The Good Wood Guide, Friends of the Earth, Fauna & Flora International, January 2002