Deforestation and Forestry Certifications

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As the push to replace plastic packaging grows, many brands turn to virgin paper as an alternative. While this shift stems from good intentions to address plastic pollution, it has inadvertently increased demand for wood pulp, exacerbating deforestation risks. This trend reflects a concerning lack of nuance in sustainability conversations: the effort to solve one environmental issue—plastic pollution—can lead to the intensification of another—deforestation and biodiversity loss.

Deforestation remains a significant driver of climate change, habitat destruction, and water cycle disruption. Virgin paper production can and does target old-growth hardwood forests and rainforests, some of the most critical ecosystems for carbon sequestration and biodiversity. These forests are irreplaceable, making their loss a severe blow to global environmental health.

We believe in holding two conflicting truths simultaneously. Plastic pollution is indeed a pressing issue, but the surge in virgin paper usage is not a straightforward or environmentally sustainable solution. Replacing one extractive material with another does not inherently make packaging sustainable. Brands must recognize that adopting virgin paper en masse has the potential to create a new environmental crisis and should explore balanced, informed approaches to sustainable packaging.

Instead of virgin materials, EcoEnclose advocates prioritizing recycled content and next-generation fibers (made from non-tree inputs with a strong potential for lower impact, like agricultural residues and byproducts that would otherwise be treated as waste). By promoting the use of post-consumer waste, agricultural byproducts, and innovative alternatives, we can mitigate the harmful impacts of deforestation while advancing packaging solutions that address broader sustainability challenges.

Learn more - All Paper Isn't Equal.

When virgin paper is necessary, forest certifications can provide a critical level of verification that the source inputs pose minimal harm to primary forests, soil, and waterways.

In our experience, a few strategic advantages to having a certified material, product, or supplier in packaging make them especially attractive to brands. Among them include:

• Certifications give a common language to material types.
  
  
• Certifications can help brands to reduce risk within their supply chains, materials, and products.
  
  
• Third-party packaging certifications can support the work of sustainability teams.

For global supply chains, certifications can help to verify labor, health, and safety standards that may not be relevant within a domestic supply chain.

Read more about these strategic advantages here.

While certifications are not without limitations, they remain essential for advancing sustainable forest management.

Source: Unsplash

Information in this section comes from Canopy’s Forest Certification Comparison V. 2 (2023).

When done well, forestry certifications help mitigate deforestation risks by promoting sustainable forest management practices and enabling more transparent tracing of responsible materials through the supply chain through their oversight.

This allows brands and consumers to confidently source forest fiber from low-risk, well-managed locations- avoiding contributions to illegal logging and deforestation in sensitive areas like rainforests and ancient/endangered forests.

For example, below are three critical protocols that derisk forest fiber from contributing to further deforestation of primary forests.

Requirements for FSC® Forest Management (FM) Certification include:

1. High Conservation Value (HCV) assessment requirements: this assesses logging areas and protects those with HCV to ensure that forests' ecological and cultural values are conserved. HCVs include: species-at-risk, rare forest types, ecological services, and social and cultural sites. (SFI & PEFC do not require an HCV assessment.)

2. 1994 Cut-Off Date for Plantations: The FSC® established the 1994 cut-off date when it was first created to prevent the certification of new areas that had recently been deforested. (PEFC has a much later cut-off date: 2010.)

3. Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous Peoples: FSC® was one of the very first forest organizations to champion Indigenous rights and has requirements and detailed implementation indicators to ensure that the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous peoples is upheld. FPIC is an essential right according to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. (While some PEFC-endorsed schemes include FPIC as a requirement, it is not systematically applied globally.)

Source: Canopy Planet, Forest Certification Comparison

FSC® also has protocols in place to remove bad players from attaining their certification at all - preventing problematic or risky entities from entering their chain of custody entirely. These include:

1. Keeping Controversial Companies out of the System: ​​FSC® has a Policy for Association which prohibits companies from becoming members of FSC® or achieving FSC® certification if they conduct controversial activities (deforestation; destruction of high conservation values; use of GMOS; illegal logging; violation of human and traditional rights, violation of workers’ rights.) including on lands outside those certified. (PEFC and its nationally endorsed schemes do not restrict membership and certification of companies that commit controversial activities, including those outside certified lands.)

2. Standards for Consultation Requirements: Stakeholder consultation requires auditors to seek input from those both directly and indirectly impacted by forestry operations. FSC® governs stakeholder consultation and outlines required processes and timelines. (While most PEFC-endorsed national schemes require consultation during audits, there are no specific guidelines that auditors must follow to ensure stakeholder consultation is undertaken with integrity, rigor or in culturally appropriate ways.)

3. Consequences for Repeated Violations: For FSC®, any company that has 5 or more significant non-conformances (systemic problems) cannot be certified or retain certification.   Unfortunately, while PEFC requires that an action plan be developed to address non-conformances, it does not publicly disclose any threshold for suspending a certificate. This has led to instances where FSC® certificates have been suspended on the same lands where SFI certificates remained in place. (For Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) — the PEFC of North America — a certificate was never suspended in the certifications 25-years of operation.)

Source: Unsplash

Forestry certifications play a critical role in reducing the risk of deforestation by providing a framework for sustainable forest management and supply chain transparency. However, certification fraud—both intentional and unintentional—remains a significant challenge, undermining the credibility and impact of these systems.

Intentional fraud occurs when companies claim to sell or use certified materials without holding valid chain of custody certifications. For example, some businesses make unverified FSC® claims, misleading consumers and brands into believing they are supporting responsible forestry practices. This exploitation of trust takes advantage of the genuine desire of consumers and companies to use their purchasing power for good, particularly to protect forests and combat deforestation.

Unintentional fraud often arises from misunderstandings about the certification process. Many do not realize that FSC® certification is specific and rigorous. A company might hold an FSC® Chain of Custody (CoC) certification, allowing it to handle certified materials, but this does not mean all of its products are FSC® certified. Or, a company may purchase materials from a supplier who is FSC® CoC certified and then assume that all of the material they purchase is certified and can be marketed as such: this is not the case!

Source: EcoEnclose. Click to enlarge.

Without proper tracking, companies may inadvertently make misleading claims about uncertified products. This confusion can dilute the value of certifications and create misinformation in the marketplace.

EcoEnclose takes certification fraud seriously and is committed to transparency. As an FSC® Chain of Custody-certified company, we print FSC® labels directly on our certified products, providing verifiable proof of our claims. Each label includes a unique certification code, which consumers can check in the FSC® public directory at www.search.fsc.org. This allows consumers to confirm our claims, the certification holder, and the materials certified. Transparency like this helps build trust through the supply chain and empowers consumers to make informed, responsible purchasing decisions.

EcoEnclose prioritizes FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council) certification above any other. Its scope is worldwide, its standards are rigorous, and it is the most globally respected forestry standard available.

FSC®’s stringent guidelines ensure that certified forests are managed sustainably, respecting biodiversity, ecosystem integrity, and the rights of Indigenous peoples. In comparison, other certifications, such as the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and its endorsed member organization called the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), fall short in key areas, raising concerns about their effectiveness in protecting forests and addressing deforestation risks.

The key difference lies in governance and funding.

FSC® is an independent, non-profit organization with a balanced structure, including environmentalists, social organizations, and economic stakeholders.

In contrast, SFI is funded by the paper and logging industries, which creates an inherent conflict of interest. Critics, including organizations like the Sierra Club and Canopy Planet, highlight that SFI allows practices such as clear-cutting, using toxic chemicals, and logging in old-growth forests, often under the guise of sustainability.

Moreover, FSC® requires robust Chain of Custody (CoC) systems, enabling traceability from forest to final product. This ensures that FSC®-labeled products genuinely meet its high standards. In contrast, SFI’s chain of custody is less rigorous, raising concerns about greenwashing and unverified claims. According to Canopy Planet and the Sierra Club, consumers should approach SFI-certified products cautiously, as the certification often prioritizes industry interests over environmental integrity.

At EcoEnclose, our FSC® Chain of Custody certification, achieved in June 2023, reflects our commitment to responsible sourcing and traceability - for both recycled and virgin fiber. We educate our partners on the importance of FSC® over other certifications to ensure transparency and meaningful environmental impact. While we acknowledge that no certification is perfect, FSC® aligns most closely with our mission to mitigate deforestation and advance sustainable packaging practices.

To ensure we make science-backed choices and truly prioritize forest health, we have relied on the research and insights from leading, third-party nonprofit organizations and NGOs focused on conservation, including The Sierra Club, the Environmental Paper Network, and Canopy Planet. Learn more about forest certification differences from these position papers: Canopy Planet’s Forest Certification Comparison and the Sierra Club’s Don’t Buy SFI report.

Source: Unsplash

Given the time and cost associated with the certification process, the reality is that not all responsibly-sourced pulp and paper will carry FSC® certification throughout its supply chain.

Occasionally, EcoEnclose finds itself in a position that we are considering a virgin or partially-virgin paper packaging solution that cannot be FSC® Certified - often because one or more entities in the supply chain does not hold Chain of Custody Certification. In situations like this, how do we ensure that the paper we’re using is not at risk of contributing to deforestation?

If we must source virgin paper packaging that lacks FSC® certification, EcoEnclose takes proactive steps to ensure inputs do not pose risk to deforestation.

These steps include:

Source: EcoEnclose

While the below certifications are commonly referenced and used, they do not meet our (or Canopy’s) criteria to ensure that no A&E fiber is utilized:

• FSC® controlled wood
• SFI
• PEFC

Additional best practices include:

1. When we find ourselves in this position - we also become extra aggressive in our focus on increasing recycled content. Relying on recycled paper significantly reduces carbon emissions and resource consumption compared to virgin paper and removes the immediate risk of deforestation.

2. Partner with suppliers, demonstrating transparency and commitment to agreed-upon sourcing practices, even if certifications are unavailable.

3. Collaborate with Canopy Planet’s Pack4Good initiative, which supports the protection of ancient and endangered forests by driving the adoption of next-generation fibers such as agricultural waste. Canopy’s team assists us when verifying new potential materials, partners, and supply chains.

4. Use tools like Canopy’s Forest Mapper to evaluate risks and avoid paper sourced from high-risk areas, such as rainforests or old-growth forests.

When virgin paper isn't FSC® certified, it often does have SFI or PEFC certification within its supply chain. While these certs are signposts in the right direction, we do not see them as able to validate any claims about deforestation or ancient and endangered forest protection. As such, we still need to take the above steps.

EcoEnclose is dedicated to advancing sustainable packaging through thoughtful sourcing and innovation. By prioritizing recycled content, embracing next-generation materials, and relying on rigorous certification standards like FSC®, we strive to balance packaging needs with environmental stewardship. Visit our Guide to Sustainable Certifications for more information on our approach.

This approach aligns with our belief that certifications, while essential, are not substitutes for a comprehensive sustainability strategy that includes innovation, partnerships, and continuous improvement.

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At EcoEnclose, we recognize that achieving true sustainability is a journey, not a destination. Certifications like FSC® make it easier to ensure responsible sourcing, but when they’re not available, vetting the supply chain becomes a complex and time-intensive process. We focus on forward progress, always striving to balance innovation with environmental stewardship.

While our products are never perfect, we are committed to full transparency. We share what we know to be true through certifications and are honest about the gaps when certifications are unavailable. Going forward, you will continue to see our product suite gain more verification and certification through third-party schemes to ensure that integrity and accountability remain at the core of everything we do.