Summary
• SCA achieved FSC certification for its forests in 1999.
• By 2005 SCA had increased the volume of FSC timber available in the UK by 500,000m³.
• The Code for Sustainable Homes and BREEAM are raising the profile of certified timber.
• SCA will launch its UK carbon calculator at its conference on June 10.

A toilet paper manufacturing plant in Northumberland rather than a sawmill in northern Sweden was the first production facility in the SCA Group to receive FSC chain of custody certification on January 21, 1999. This made sound business sense: the combined UK market for kitchen towels and toilet paper was worth £1bn and SCA was – and still is – a major player in the sector.

Yet this was only half of the story. The main news of the day was the award of FSC forest management certification for SCA’s forests. At a stroke, SCA increased FSC’s world total by 18%. Ten years on, does FSC certification still represent a real business advantage, and where will certification’s next decade lead the trade?

SCA Forest Products launched certified publication papers and certified spruce from Tunadal at WWF’s trade fair in June 2000. Its Munksund sawmill gained certification in August 2000, and Holmsund a year later, completing the triangle of SCA sawmills then supplying the UK market. FSC’s Volume Credit System was introduced in October 2004 and this liberated a much greater flow of FSC-certified timber.

Pre-certification audit check

SCA Timber Supply environment & QA manager, Bob Bastow, developed a 10-point pre-certification audit check system and implemented it amongst SCA’s customers, successfully bringing them through the FSC audit process. “By April 2005, almost 70% of SCA timber imported into Britain was being sold with FSC chain of custody,” he said. “We’d been able to increase the volume of FSC timber available in the UK by just under 500,000m³, and this was enough to win us the first-ever TTJ Environmental Achievement Award.”

Today SCA Timber Supply is one of the largest suppliers of FSC and other certified timber and wood products in Britain, serving both merchant and DIY supply chains. Yet even 10 years on from SCA’s entry into the FSC market, there are still builders merchants without chain of custody, and this can make life difficult for those who positively opt for certified timber.

Developments in Lambeth

The London Borough of Lambeth has been at the forefront of certified timber use in recent years, but still finds supply gaps. “The good news is that the Code for Sustainable Homes and BREEAM are leading to more recognition of the importance of certified timber to the sustainability rating of local developments,” said Jon Lissimore the environmental manager, housing regeneration and environment, for the borough.

“We’re proud of our achievements at Fairfax House – the first construction project in the UK with externally verified chain of custody – and Boatemah Walk, a timber frame new build with 95% confirmed FSC timber. We were also pleased when a housing association partner achieved 96% FSC-certified timber on its timber frame development in Brixton recently,” he said.

“There’s a way to go yet before everyone can prove legal and sustainable timber, but at least the Code for Sustainable Homes and BREEAM are pushing developers and suppliers in the right direction – as is planning policy. Our sustainable design supplementary planning document explicitly requires developers to address this agenda.

“Our timber procurement policy and procedures were developed in 2001 and run in parallel with CPET. Lambeth views FSC as the most holistic of the systems available at present, promoting sustainable forestry while protecting indigenous people and biodiversity. However, local authorities are not yet obliged to follow CPET advice, so procurement requirements still vary widely from authority to authority. This is frustrating when public money is being used and we know there is a serious problem of illegally logged timber still coming into the UK,” said Mr Lissimore.

Local authority variations

The variation in local authority timber procurement demands is echoed on the other side of the procurement table by manufacturers such as Duncan Forster, managing director of Allan Brothers Timber Windows & Doors: “Officially they always put forward their procurement criteria but, when it gets to contract level, they’re often diluted by the need to get the job done in a certain time frame or to a certain budget. In normal times our FSC certification confers a distinct business advantage and I wouldn’t be without it. But in today’s market the economic imperative tends to override sustainable procurement policies.”

Alan Heron is procurement manager at Procurement for Housing, whose members represent 60% of the UK’s social housing stock. He views timber certification as an essential part of a wider array of sustainability credentials demanded of suppliers: “Sustainability has been on the procurement agenda for a number of years and certified timber is becoming much more of a focal point – there’s certainly no chance of it going away,” he said.

Range of sustainability criteria

“We have contracts covering different product groups and in each one relating to wood – such as kitchens, for example – we ask for the sustainability credentials of the supplier. We look for FSC-certified timber or timber acceptable under the CPET guidance. We actively measure and select suppliers based on their timber certification, but equally measure them on a range of other sustainability criteria. These include transport, waste and energy management and social criteria such as skills, training and employee development. To be sustainable, procurement decisions must cover all these aspects,” said Mr Heron.

Bovis LendLease is already working with the system it feels represents the future of construction product certification. “Bovis LendLease has committed to the use of BES 6001 – the new standard for responsible sourcing of construction products,” said head of supply chain management Nigel McKay. “Timber certification is part of this standard but so are life cycle elements such as transport, resource efficiency, waste management, water use, and social factors including training and skills and community engagement. Having recently adopted this standard we’re beginning to filter it through our supply chain. We feel it will give us a much firmer basis both for risk management and supplier assessment.”

The next decade

Looking ahead to the next decade of certification, Rob Simpson, managing director of SCA Timber Supply, foresees a short-term proliferation of labels until the sector finds a common method of communicating its sustainability credentials. “Companies like SCA will be working closely with customers on the fine detail of sustainability claims in the coming months and years,” he said. “We’re starting with carbon impacts at our conference on June 10, launching SCA’s UK carbon calculator. We’ll then be guiding customers in using this data to improve their environmental profiles and product LCAs. We all know timber is sustainable: let’s work together to prove it.”