IKEA Featured in New "On Paper" Sustainability Series Podcast

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NewPage Corp., Miamisburg, Ohio, USA, this week announced the upload of a new "On Paper" sustainability series podcast featuring Anders Hildeman of IKEA, the Netherlands. As global forestry manager for IKEA, Hildeman discusses the importance of responsible forestry management and the role IKEA plays through numerous associations to preserve forestlands worldwide.

The podcast can be downloaded online, as well as more than 30 previous episodes on topics such as supply chain management, zero waste, and green business strategies,

IKEA, a global home furnishings company with more than 300 stores in 37 countries, sources wood from close to 50 different countries to supply materials for their range of home furnishings products. "Wood is the soul of IKEA products," Hildeman says.

In 1993, IKEA became a member of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Explaining the importance of FSC to IKEA, Hildeman says that "the reason we've promoted and worked closely with the Forest Stewardship Council is that it allows stakeholder input to deciding the criteria for {forest} management. It's really not up to IKEA to decide how people should be managing their forests, but we would like to see major stakeholders agree on how they should be managed."

Today, IKEA, along with NewPage and 10 other business and world leaders, is a founding member of the Forest Legality Alliance, an international initiative designed to reduce trade in illegally harvested forest products, increase transparency in forest product supply chains, and support global supply chain efforts to deliver legal wood and paper. The Alliance is currently developing a risk assessment tool that will help companies evaluate the risk of purchasing illegally harvested forest products, including paper and wood.

The "On Paper" Podcast Series is an ongoing dialogue that provides a platform for professionals to share how their organizations implement sustainable practices. With dozens of episodes featuring representatives from the most innovative of corporate America, across a variety of industries, "On Paper" has garnered more than one million downloads.