SP Mills Earn FSC, PEFC and SFI Certification

SP Newsprint Co. LLC, based in Atlanta, has announced that its Dublin, Ga. and Newberg, Ore., newsprint mills have achieved Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Chain-of-Custody certifications.

The certifications track FSC-, PEFC- and SFI-certified material through the chain of custody process – from the fiber sources to the consumer, including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution, according to a company news release.

The company notes that 100 percent recycled products from these mills total 760,000 metric tons annually. The newsprint can now carry a label confirming that it was made from certified post-consumer sources.

The certifications became effective Dec. 1, 2009, and were issued by the Bureau VERITAS Certification North America Inc. Certification of this type requires a minimum of 85 percent of the raw materials used to meet the FSC definition of post-consumer waste on a rolling average basis.

"Having FSC, PEFC and SFI Chain-of-Custody certification at both of our newsprint mills assures our customers of the company's commitment to show responsible stewardship of environmental resources," says Christopher Brant, president and COO of the company.

With this announcement, the SP newsprint mill in Dublin will now be the largest FSC-, PEFC- and SFI-certified 100 percent recycled newsprint mill in North America, according to the company.