The Environment

Many hands join across the world to ensure sustainability - assurance that resources are renewed and preserved for future generations.

At Mac Papers, we are pleased to be a part of the worldwide effort to sustain and protect the environment, especially our planet's valuable forests. We are chain-of-custody (CoC) certified with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). CoC certification ensures that products made from trees pass from a certified, well-managed forest to a certified paper manufacturer, merchant and printer. Mac Papers is also proud to be Rainforest Alliance Certified (RAC), an organization that is committed to conserving biodiversity by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior.

We urge all of our customers in supporting those companies that demonstrate environmental responsibility. For more information regarding environmentally friendly papers, call your Mac Papers representative today.

Mac Papers is now:

FSC chain of custody certified. SW-COC-002228
SFI chain of custody certified. PWC-SFICOC-229
PEFC chain of custody certified. PWC-PEFC-229

FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL (FSC)

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The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international organization whose mission is to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. FSC certified products are manufactured from FSC certified paper products by mills which utilize fiber certified by the FSC.

Labels
There are 7 different FSC labels. The label used on a specific product is directly related to its fiber makeup, which may include FSC fibers, recycled fibers, and post-consumer recycled fibers.

You can only use the FSC labels if you have been certified by a FSC approved 3rd party auditor and have received the Chain-of-Custody Certification.

Click here to see a list of the FSC Certified Papers.

CHAIN OF CUSTODY (CoC)

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Chain of Custody (CoC) is the process by which certified forest products are verified to come from properly managed, sustainable sources. All organizations wishing to become CoC certified must meet the minimum requirements in product traceability, product storage and handling, invoicing, and record keeping, and have on-site audits annually by an accredited third-party verifier.

Labels
Each participant in the forest chain of custody certification is issued a unique CoC number which must be displayed with the corresponding logo and all transactional documents.

PROGRAMME FOR THE ENDORSEMENT OF FOREST CERTIFICATION (PEFC)

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PEFC is a global umbrella organization for the assessment of and mutual recognition of national forest certification schemes developed in a multi-stakeholder process. These national schemes build upon the inter-governmental processes for the promotion of sustainable forest management, a series of on-going mechanisms supported by 149 governments in the world covering 85% of the world's forest area.

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The PEFC logo, initials and name are copyrighted materials and are a registered trademark owned by the PEFC Council. The use of the PEFC logo, initials and name are regulated and governed by the PEFC Council.

RAINFOREST ALLIANCE CERTIFIED PRODUCTS

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The mission of the Rainforest Alliance is to protect the ecosystems and the people and wildlife that depend on them by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. Companies, cooperatives and landowners that participate in RA programs meet rigorous standards that conserve biodiversity and provide sustainable livelihoods. RA sets standards for sustainability that conserve wildlife and wildlands and promote the well-being of workers and their communities.

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The Rainforest Alliance logo is only available for use with products which are FSC certified by Smartwood.

SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITATIVE (SFI)

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SFI certified products are produced at mills which utilize fiber certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program. Fiber coming from this program is certified based on a comprehensive system of principles, objectives, and performance measures developed by professional foresters, conservationists and scientists that combines the perpetual growing and harvesting of trees with the long-term protection of wildlife, plants, soil, and water quality. Under the SFI program, participating companies plant or grow more trees than are harvested each year. This is mostly a North American initiative.

Labels
The product carries the SFI label.

GREEN-E CERTIFIED PRODUCTS

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The Green-e logo is the nationally recognized symbol for certified renewable energy. Green-e is the nation's leading independent certification and verification program for renewable energy and companies that use renewable energy. Green-e provides an easy way for consumers to quickly identify environmentally superior products made from renewable sources of electricity such as wind energy. Wind energy is the fastest growing source of electricity in the U.S.

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A product must be Green-e certified by an independent 3rd party audit.

RECYCLABLE PAPER

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Papers qualifying as “recyclable” have no attachments which prevent them from being entered into conventional recycling programs. Paper can only be marked as recyclable if it can be collected, separated or otherwise recovered from the solid waste stream for reuse in the manufacture of another product through an established recycling program.

Labels and Logos
The Federal Trade Commission’s Environmental Marketing Guides require marketers to qualify whether the product or package is recycled content or recyclable.  The chasing arrows symbol can be used without qualification only if the product or package is made entirely from recycled material and is commonly recyclable.

RECYCLED PAPER

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Paper or products made with paper can contain post-consumer or pre-consumer recycled fiber or both.

Post-consumer waste (PCW) fiber is generated from consumer end products that have been separated or diverted from the solid waste stream. Items that make up this type of fiber include office wastepaper, mail and magazines from people’s homers, and used packaging from delivered products.

Pre-consumer waste fiber is generated from materials that have not met their intended end-use by a consumer. Examples include waste from manufacturing, and converting and printing processes.

Labels and Logos
The chasing arrows symbol must note the amount of post-consumer waste in a tag line printed with the logo unless the paper is made from 100% recycled materials. No qualifying statement means the product is from 100% recycled fiber

CHLORINE FREE CERTIFIED PRODUCTS

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Process chlorine free papers or products are certified by the Chlorine Free Products Association (CFPA).  The CFPA is an independent not-for-profit accreditation & standard setting organization.

Process Chlorine Free (PCF) is reserved for recycled content paper. This included all recycled fibers uses as a feedstock that meets EPA guidelines for recycled or post-consumer content. PCF papers have not been rebleached with chlorine containing compounds. A minimum of 30% post-consumer content is required.

Labels & Logos
The CFPA logo may be printed on any products converted from PCF paper which is certified by the CFPA.

GREEN SEAL CERTIFIED PAPER

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Minimum requirements for Green Seal Certified papers specify that uncoated printing and writing papers shall either: 1) contain at least 30% post-consumer material, or 2) be manufactured without using chlorine or chlorine derivates.

Green Seal is an organization which works with manufacturers, industry sectors, purchasing groups and governments at all levels to “green” the production and purchasing chain. Products can only become Green Seal certified after rigorous testing and evaluation, including on-site plant visits.

Labels & Logos
The Green Seal logo may be printed on the product by permission of the product manufacturer. Wherever the Green Seal Certification Mark appears on a package, the package must contain a description of the basis of certification.            

CARBON NEUTRAL

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An organization that is responsible for no net emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) from all its activities is considered "carbon neutral". Their focus is promoting sustainable manufacturing practices, implementing advanced technologies free of chlorine chemistry, educating consumers on alternatives, and developing world markets for sustainably produced third party certified products and services.

Labels & Logos
CFPA is the owner of certain trademarks including TOTALLY and PROCESSED CHLORINE FREE and Design ("the Mark")

CFPA authorizes third parties to use the Mark in connection with their paper products, subject to quality control measures.

To use the Mark on a printed piece, the paper has to have been certified by the CFPA.

SOY INK

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Soy ink contains non-toxic soybean oil, the same oil which is used in cooking oils, dressings and thousands of other foods and beverages. The United Soybean Board and the National Soy Ink Information center states, “Using soy ink helps the nation’s economy by providing a market for a domestic crop while diminishing dependence on foreign resources such as petroleum oil”. Soy inks create rich, vivid color.

Labels & Logos
Any product printed with soy ink can carry its own “Printed with Soy Ink” logo

EPA-CPG

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The EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guideline (EPA-CPG) programs are part of EPA's continuing effort to promote the use of materials recovered from solid waste. Buying recycled-content products ensure that the materials collected in recycling programs will be used again in the manufacturing of new products.

The CPG was published to encourage the use of material recovered through recycling, and thereby help to reduce the amount of waste that must be disposed of, Congress directed government agencies, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Executive Order 13101, to increase their purchases of recycled-content products. Once a product is designated as an EPA-CPG item, procuring agencies are required to purchase it with the highest recovered material content level practicable.

Under the RCRA, the requirement to purchase an EPA-designated product containing recovered materials applies to "procuring agencies" that spend more than $10,000 a year on that item. Procuring agencies include all federal agencies, and any state or local agency or government contractor that uses appropriated federal funds. Updated requirements for paper and paper products were published in May 1996 and June 1998.

Labels & Logos
No requirements for labeling products.