NewPage Third PAPER@WORK Brief Focused on CoC Certification
Print this Article | Send to Colleague
NewPage Corp., Miamisburg, Ohio, USA, has launched a third edition of its PAPER@WORK Brief series titled Forest to Shelf. Chain-of-Custody Certification – packaging's path to sustained success. This new brief provides five steps to chain-of-custody (CoC) certified labels and packaging.
Within the paper industry, forest certification is a foundation of sustainability, NewPage notes. Such certification verifies that forests have been harvested without resorting to illegal logging and other damaging practices, and have been managed according to performance standards that promote sustainable forests. Each standard is reviewed and verified by an independent, accredited auditor.
The growing movement by brand owners to ensure that paper-product suppliers respect environmental, economic, and social standards has elevated the significance of CoC certification, NewPage explains, pointing out that CoC enables paper packaging and labels to be tracked step-by-step through multiple stages of the manufacturing process, from the forest to the final product on the store shelf. To promote a product as CoC certified, every entity taking possession of the paper—including forest landowners, harvesters, processors, manufacturers, distributors, converters, and printers—must be certified, it adds.
"As today's consumers become more conscious of environmental issues, a shift is occurring in the packaging and labeling markets," said Tamara Wamsley, sustainability analyst for NewPage. "More and more, consumers are demanding that the products they purchase, including the product's packaging, help the sustainability of people and our plant. This PAPER@WORK Brief will help packaging converters and label printers understand the steps to take to develop a certification strategy that substantially enhances the sustainability, value, and market appeal of their paper-based packaging and label offerings."
NewPage is a producer of printing and specialty papers in North America with $3.1 billion in net sales for 2013. The company owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, with a total annual production capacity of approximately 3.5 million tons of paper.
