What makes Kimberly-Clark Australia PEFC certified?
To achieve certification, Kimberly-Clark Australia (KCA) has been independently, third-party audited to ensure that throughout the production process, the company is able to identify what fibre has gone into its products.
Importantly, its procedures must show;
- that no wood or fibre comes from illegal operations or controversial sources
- the percentage of fibre which comes from certified forest operations
PEFC certification means that KCA's tissue products must meet their thorough and stringent requirements for sustainable forest management of wood supplies.
Detailed calculations confirm that we have over 80% of fibre sourced from forests certified under PEFC as sustainably managed. We are working with suppliers to aim for 100% of our wood and fibres from certified forests.
KCA's certification includes the following auditing:
- Wood production (plantations/forests) in different countries
- Fibre ("pulp") production in different countries, and
- Tissue manufacture in Australia using different mixes of fibres.
The PEFC certification process involves detailed procedures that bring together separate audits and certification of the following processes:
- Wood production is covered in Australia by the Australian Standard® AS 4708-2007, known as The Australian Forestry Standard1, ensuring that the wood comes from forests (including plantations) that are sustainably managed.
- Detailed procedures to measure the wood and fibres we purchase from sustainably managed forests. Detailed and careful audits by third-party, independent auditors examine the 'chain of custody'2 to verify that we meet the PEFC threshold requirement of certified wood content in our fibre inputs.3
- Tissue products audit - the chain of custody audit extends to certify the required level of fibres in our tissue products, necessary for certification under PEFC.
Where can I find out more?
To learn more about;
- How KCA cares for our environment, please visit -
http://www.kca.com.au/environment - PEFC and KCA's certification, please visit -
http://www.kca.com.au/environment/forestry-management.html - PEFC's own website, please visit -
http://www.pefc.org/internet/html/about_pefc.htm - PEFC brochures on sustainable forestry and buying wood products, please visit - http://www.pefc.org/internet/html/documentation/4_1311_402.htm
1 AS 4708-2007, "Forest management - Economic, social, environmental and cultural criteria and requirements for wood production"
2 An independent, third-party auditor verifies (against the Australian Standard® 4707-2006, "Chain of custody for certified wood and forest products") the quantities of certified wood at every stage in the supply chain
3 PEFC certification requires that wood products, including fibres and paper, must have a minimum of 70% of fibre from forests certified by any of the PEFC-endorsed sustainable forest management schemes.
