b'BACK TO NAVIGATIONCERTIFICATIONBeware of Greenwashing!Certification systems allow consumers to influence forest management and other impacts of paper use by purchasingMany products are now being labelled as pre-certified products. Customers shouldnt assume that allgreen even though they still have negative certification standards are equivalent and that all certified forestenvironmental impacts and this can be an issue products come from sustainably managed forests. There arefor paper. Almost all paper is recyclable, so important differences that consumers should be aware of.paper labelled recyclable is not greener than There are two common certifications available for forest productsstandard paper. The most sustainable paper in Australia that are applied to copy paper: should be 100 per cent recycled, have a high Forest Stewardship Council certification (FSC) andpost-consumer waste content and not contain Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) - sometimes alsoany native forest fibre. Ideally this paper would represented as PEACalso be produced locally to avoid the impacts Both certifications are underpinned by a process of standards,of transport.consultation, reporting, and auditing.Both these certifications receive support and criticism bySome paper companies also label their paper different stakeholder groups and both are subject to commentarycarbon neutral as the carbon emissions in the about how they balance the interests of commercial harvestingproduction process have been measured and versus environmental sustainability and communities. Many criticsoffset. However, if the paper contains native point to contradictions where high value conservation forests areforest fibre, simply leaving the native forest in harvested for certified timber products or where other impacts,the ground to absorb carbon would provide or failures of compliance systems have led to unsustainablegreater benefits.outcomes.The highest use of paper by law firms is 80gsm copy paper. TheAustralia also exports unprocessed wood chips number of large paper mills in Australia has reduced over the lastharvested from native Victorian and Tasmanian ten years as a result of international competition. Australian Papereucalypt forests to Japan and China where is now the only producer of copy paper in Australia but producesit is made into paper products. Given that paper for several labels and brands. Their plant at Maryvalemuch of Australias copy paper is imported, produces different copy paper products using both recycled andcustomers need to be aware that they may be virgin pulp - using fifty-seven per cent plantation pulp in total. Australian Paper has also recently commissioned a recycling plantinadvertently supporting this practice.capable of significantly increasing the proportion of recycled copy paper it produces.However, Australian Paper is also the only Australian manufacturer of A4 copy paper that still uses native forest timber harvested by Vic Forests. This supply of native forest logs is certified by the industry backed Australian Forestry Standard but does not meet the additional requirements of Forestry Stewardship Council certification.73'