MIAMISBURG, Ohio, June 26 /PRNewswire/ — Today, NewPage Corporation announced that its Stevens Point, Wisconsin mill received chain-of-custody standards certification from the Forest Stewardship Council(C) (FSC). FSC is an international, nonprofit organization that develops standards for responsible forest management, and accredits independent third-party organizations to certify forest managers and forest product producers to these standards.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080514/NEWPAGELOGO )
This FSC certification (SW-COC-001930) signifies that the Stevens Point mill has in place a tracking system to control and verify certain levels of FSC-certified fiber and that the mill obtains at least 10% of FSC-certified fiber from FSC chain-of-custody sources. By achieving certification to this standard, the Stevens Point mill, which produces specialized labeling and packaging papers, is able to supply FSC-labeled products to its customers.
“We are pleased and proud to receive this recognition of our mill’s adherence to the FSC standards of responsibility and accountability,” said Ed Buehler, general manager, specialty papers, for NewPage. “This FSC chain-of-custody certification affirms to our customers that they can be confident that, from harvesting to manufacturing to delivery to their door, the specialty paper we supply to them is the product of our rigorous regard for sustainable practices.”
“Chain-of-custody” is the traceable path logs take from the forest, through the pulp manufacturing process, to the paper mill, all the way through to the certified product sold to an end user. Compliance with this standard means that Stevens Point mill employees have established and engage in “best practices” to process pulp derived from certified suppliers who obtain logs that have been: legally harvested; harvested from areas where human rights are not violated; harvested from forests where high conservation values are embraced; harvested from areas that have not been converted from natural forest to plantations or non-forest uses; or not harvested from genetically modified trees. Chain-of-custody must be in place at all steps along the supply chain in order for a printed label or package to carry an FSC chain-of-custody label.
“The Stevens Point mill also has third-party certified Sustainable Forestry Initiative(R) (SFI) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) schemes chain-of-custody systems in place. The addition of the FSC certification builds upon our track record of making sure that only fiber from responsibly managed forest enters the mill,” added Buehler.
For additional information, visit the company’s Web site at www.NewPageCorp.com
About Specialty Papers
NewPage is North America’s largest coated specialty papers producer, specializing in the design, development, production, sales, marketing and support of specialty papers for the flexible packaging, technical and label markets in North and South America, and extending to Europe and Asia.
About NewPage Corporation
Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, NewPage Corporation is the largest coated paper manufacturer in North America, based on production capacity, with $4.7 billion in pro forma net sales for the year ended December 31, 2007. The company’s product portfolio is the broadest in North America and includes coated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered, newsprint and specialty papers. These papers are used for corporate collateral, commercial printing, magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts, newspapers, packaging applications and direct mail advertising.
NewPage owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nova Scotia, and Wisconsin. These mills currently have a total annual production capacity of approximately 5.5 million tons of paper, including approximately 4.3 million tons of coated paper, approximately 920,000 tons of uncoated paper and approximately 300,000 tons of specialty paper, as well as approximately 3.2 million tons of pulp.
About FSC
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international, independent, not-for-profit organization that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests. The organization accredits third-party certifiers to ensure that forest and forest products companies meet FSC principles and criteria for environmental, economic and social standards. FSC is “The Independent Assurance for Responsible Forest Management.”
About SFI
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative(R) (SFI) program is a comprehensive system of principles, objectives and performance measures developed by professional foresters, conservationists and scientists, among others that combines the perpetual growing and harvesting of trees with the long-term protection of wildlife, plants, soil and water quality.
About PEFC
The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) schemes is an independent, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that promotes sustainable forest management through independent third-party certification. PEFC endorses the certification system of SFI.
First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080514/NEWPAGELOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: NewPage Corporation
CONTACT: Shawn Hall of NewPage, +1-937-242-9373
Web site: http://www.newpagecorp.com/
