Eco Sentido Sdn Bhd teamed up with MTCC recently and organised the online Eco Sense Forum on “Sustainable Paper Trends and the Need for PEFC Certification.” Held on 29 January and hosted at MTCC’s premises in Kuala Lumpur, the forum was aimed at giving insights on eco-friendly, sustainably sourced paper trends and how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the print, paper and packaging industry and related industries can improve their supply chain compliance with responsible sourcing through the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) scheme. PEFC is the world’s largest forest certification scheme with 320 million hectares of PEFC-certified forests, over 20,000 certified companies in 85 countries and endorsed international members in 48 countries.
Three topics were presented at the forum which was moderated by Sunita Devi of Eco Sentido. In her presentation titled “Opportunities for a PEFC Chain of Custody certificate holder from the Print, Paper Packaging Industry”, PEFC International Head of Marketing, Fabienne Sinclair talked about PEFC and the growing global demand for wood as well as certified timber and timber products, particularly in Europe.
“Many industries are relying on timber which I think is good because it’s a natural and renewable material. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) reported that the demand for wood alone is expected to triple to 10 billion cubic metres by 2050…When it comes to trend pertaining to the print and paper packaging industry, the Pro Carton Consumer Packaging Perceptions study highlights that 90% of the 7,000 consumers surveyed in seven European countries say that labelling or information about the environmentally-friendliness of packaging matters to them,” she said.
Such demands can be fulfilled if forests are managed in a sustainable manner and responsible sourcing via inclusive procurement policies is in place – as implemented by certification schemes such as PEFC, said Sinclair.
Sustainability Strategy and Programme Director at Nets Printwork Sdn Bhd and Eco Sentido, Teh Soo Tyng shared Nets Printwork’s experience in obtaining the PEFC certification from an eco-printing solution company’s perspective. Apart from that, she highlighted the company’s inspiring Carbon Neutral Print Programme – a carbon offsetting programme which engages their clients to invest in tree-planting projects to balance the carbon footprint generated from the printing process.
In her presentation on “How to Become PEFC-certified under MTCS”, MTCC Manager (Product), Sabrina Mawasi enlightened the participants with a step-by-step process of obtaining the PEFC Chain of Custody certification under the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS). The presentations were followed by a Q&A session.
In rounding up the session, MTCC CEO, Yong Teng Koon said it is about time that businesses as well as the public do their bit in ensuring the sustainability of forests and forest resources to benefit future generations.
“At this juncture in time where forest resources are scarce and the demand for them are increasing, I think the call is for us to be responsible in production and consumption. All of us need to do our part to ensure forest sustainability for our future generations – just like our tagline, ‘Sustainable Forest, Sustainable Future.’ It’s never too late to do the right thing,” he said.
A total of 50 industry players mainly from the print, paper and packaging industry participated in the two-hour event.
Note: If you missed this session, don’t worry! The recording of the online forum is now available on the MTCC YouTube Channel. Watch it here: