ITC's Bhadrachalam Facility gets coveted Forest Stewardship Council Certification
ITC has achieved yet another milestone in its
environmental journey. India's largest integrated
pulp and paper and paperboard manufacturing
facility of ITC at Bhadrachalam has been awarded
the FSC Chain of Custody certificate. It is the
most widely respected certification for
responsible fibre sourcing around the world. This
certification provides a unique competitive edge
to ITC's finepapers and paperboards in an
increasingly environment-conscious world.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an
independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit
organization established to promote the responsible management of the world's forests. FSC is a certification system that provides
internationally recognized standard-setting,
trademark assurance and accreditation services to
companies, organizations, and communities
interested in responsible forestry.
Chain of Custody (CoC) certificates for
paper/paperboard manufacturers are awarded after
stringent audits that seek to establish the
traceability of the fibre being used. The auditors
verify that all material comes from known, legal
sources which do not threaten the ecological
balance and high conservation values of forests.
ITC is already a global leader in the area of
sustainability. Along with being India's first
company to be invited to be a member of the WWF's
Global Forest and Trade Network (WWF GFTN), ITC
also has a sustainable social and farm forestry
programme that has now greened over 100,000
hectares of land. ITC's unique large scale social
forestry project has been the first of its kind in
India to be registered with the UNFCC under the
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The benefits of
the project activity, which will earn 57792 CERs,
will be passed on to the tribals post expenses
incurred for the CDM project. ITC has also
pioneered the innovative Wealth Out of Waste (WOW)
programme in India, for collecting recyclable
fibre directly from households. These achievements
speak volumes for ITC's aspiration to be an
exemplar in sustainability practices.
This FSC certification comes close on the heels of
the September 2009 certification of ITC PSPD's
recycled paperboards unit at Kovai, underlining
ITC's commitment to obtain credible environmental
certifications for its wide range of products in
paper and paperboard. ITC's Paperboards and Paper
Business will now be able to offer unique products
to discerning customers that are certified to be
manufactured with sustainably sourced virgin or
post consumer recycled content, under the 'FSC
Mixed' and 'FSC Recycled' labels.
Going forward, ITC PSPD will continue to pursue
excellence in environmental performance, and
increasingly offer credibly certified products
from all its units.
