Lil Packaging - Why we manufacture FSC™ certified packaging

At Lil Packaging, we want to be green. We want to practice sustainable business. Most of all, we want to ensure you can do both as well, which is why

we have ensured that we always try and manufacture FSC™ certified packaging. Below you’ll find a guide to what being FSC™ certified actually means!

FSC™ stands for ‘Forest Stewardship Council™’. They are an international non-profit organization dedicated to promoting responsible forestry. FSC™ certifies forests and other controlled sources all over the world to ensure they meet the highest environmental and social standards.

Products made with wood and paper from FSC™ certified forests are marked with our ‘tick tree’ logo. When you see this logo, you can be confident that buying it won’t mean harming the world’s forests. (You’ll see this on our stock ranges of certified FSC™ packaging.)

Forests are inspected and certified against strict standards based on FSC™’s 10 Principles of Forest Stewardship. These inspections are undertaken by accredited bodies, such as the Soil Association, that are certified by the FSC™. In order to be given FSC™ certification a forest (and other controlled sources) must be managed in an environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable manner. This is what makes the FSC™ system unique and ensures that a forest is well-managed from the protection of indigenous people’s rights to the methods of felling trees. Forests that meet these strict standards are given FSC™ certification and the timber allowed to carry the FSC™ label.

In addition to forest certification, the FSC™ system includes a certified chain of custody that tracks the timber through every stage in the supply chain from the forest to the final user. This is monitored through the invoicing process and the final label on the product has a code that confirms that the item is genuinely FSC™. (At Lil Packaging, we follow this chain of custody rigorously for certified FSC™ packaging.)

The Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC™) logo on a wood or wood based product is your assurance that it is made with, or contains; wood that comes from FSC™ certified forests, from post-consumer waste, and other controlled sources.

There are three types of FSC™ label: 100%, FSC™ Mix or FSC™ Recycled. You can find out what each of these mean on the FSC website.

The FSC™ label is currently found on over 10,000 product lines in the UK alone. You’ll find it on garden furniture, decking, sheds, conservatories, tools, bird boxes and bird tables, kitchen, bathroom and general housewares, brushes, wall paper, flooring, doors, shelves, furniture, toilet tissue, paper, pencils – in fact most things made from wood. It can also be found on less obvious items such as charcoal, and there are now also coffins available. The FSC™ logo can also be found on non-timber forest products such as footballs and trainers containing latex as well as products such as venison and maple syrup.

There are a number of other forest certification schemes around but they do not have the same strict environmental, social and economic standards or such a rigorous chain of custody; tracking timber from the forest to the final user. FSC™ is therefore the only forest certification scheme endorsed by the major environment charities including WWF, Greenpeace and the Woodland Trust. You can see a more detailed analysis of how FSC™ compares with other forest certification schemes here.

Like all products it depends on the availability but on the whole familiar items will be roughly the same price as non-FSC™ items. (For the items on this website, you’ll see no cost difference if they’re certified FSC™ packaging.)

What should I do if I can’t find products with the FSC™ label?Although more and more products are becoming available all the time there are still gaps in the market. If you cannot find a product you should ask for it; the greater the demand the bigger the supply. FSC™ can also help with tracing items, take a look at our product search on the web site, or contact FSC™ UK.