3M Releases Revised Paper Policy Providing Leading-Edge Protection for Forests, Endangered Species, & Forest Communities Worl...
March 05 2015 - 10:28AM
Business Wire
ForestEthics, Greenpeace, and The Forest Trust
Applaud 3M’s Commitment and Actions
Today 3M announced a new pulp and paper sourcing policy designed
to ensure all the virgin wood fiber going into 3M’s paper-based
products and packaging comes from sources that protect forests and
respect human rights.
Recognizing the risks facing forests and continuing its deep
commitment to conserve natural resources, 3M’s new industry-leading
policy does not allow any wood fiber to be linked to deforestation
or illegal operations. The policy also requires protection of high
carbon stock forests and high conservation values, like intact
forest landscapes, peatlands and the habitat of endangered
species.
3M joined forces with The Forest Trust (TFT) and Dovetail
Partners to learn more about the threats facing forests in its
supply chain, and update this policy.
“The first strategic decision we made in drafting this policy
was to focus on defining clearly for our suppliers our own values
and requirements related to the protection of forests and
vulnerable people,” said Jean Sweeney, vice president, 3M
Environmental, Health, Safety and Sustainability Operations. “We
are taking responsibility for making sure our pulp and paper
suppliers meet the requirements of the policy, and help them to
raise their performance if necessary.”
In addition to the environmental elements of today’s policy, it
also sets strong standards related to social concerns, including
respect for workers’ rights and indigenous peoples’ rights to free,
prior and informed consent to operations on their traditional
lands. Under the new policy, all paper-based products and packaging
suppliers are required to provide information on the original
forest sources of the virgin pulp in 3M’s products, and allow those
sources to be assessed against 3M’s policy.
3M’s newly revised policy comes on the heels of a multi-year
campaign by ForestEthics challenging the company to strengthen its
commitment to protect forests and endangered wildlife, and to
support rights of forest-impacted communities. Greenpeace joined
the campaign in 2014.
“3M had the vision and the commitment back in the 1970’s to
endeavor to address its climate impact, and they did so with great
effect. We knew they had the capacity and the smarts to take the
same approach with forests,” said Todd Paglia, executive director,
ForestEthics. “The policy announced today is industry-leading, and
represents exactly the type of innovation that 3M is known
for.”
Implementation of the policy throughout 3M’s global operations
is a substantial undertaking, involving more than 70 countries and
5,000 pulp and paper suppliers, each with their own manufacturing
facilities and supply chains.
To drive change across the industry, 3M will engage with its
direct and indirect suppliers, to educate them on the forestry
issues addressed in the policy, and support them to set up their
own responsible fiber sourcing programs. The hope is that this will
have a ripple effect in driving positive change beyond 3M’s fiber
supply, leading to widespread market demand for protection of
forests and respect for workers’ and indigenous peoples’
rights.
3M not only collaborated with, but became a member of TFT, a
non-profit organization with a strong track record in guiding
companies on the development and implementation of responsible pulp
and paper sourcing and improved forest management across global
supply chains. 3M and TFT will work closely together to map 3M’s
supply chains back to source and assess them against the 3M
policy.
“We are excited to be working with 3M on this important effort
to transform the global pulp and paper market to be drivers of
forest protection, and to clearly send a message that deforestation
is unacceptable,” said Scott Poynton, founder and executive
director, The Forest Trust.
The process of mapping the supply chains back to the harvest
source and assessing suppliers according to the updated policy is
underway. This work builds on 3M’s long-standing legal harvest
program and is designed to ensure compliance against international
forest product legality regulations such as the U.S. Lacey Act, the
European Union Timber Regulation, and the Australian Illegal
Logging Prohibition Act. 3M’s Legal Harvest program already
requires suppliers to report on the genus, species, and country of
harvest for all plant-based fiber in 3M products.
As part of its commitment, 3M will publish semiannual updates of
its progress on implementing its policy. These updates will be
available on the 3M and TFT websites.
3M has already taken action to sever business with suppliers out
of compliance with its new standards.
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1033586O/pulp-and-paper-policy.pdf
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3M-Sustainability/Global/Environment/SustainableForestry/
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/SD/Supplier/Requirements/SREE/LegalHarvestingLaws/
About 3M3M is a science-based company with a culture of
creative collaboration that inspires powerful technologies, making
life better. With $32 billion in sales, 3M employs 90,000 people
worldwide and has operations in more than 70 countries. For more
information, visit www.3M.com/ or follow @3MNewsroom on
Twitter.
3MDonna Fleming Runyon, 651-736-7646orForestEthicsEddie Scher,
415-815-7027
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