TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP) has now received a fourth SVLK certification from the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, providing an official stamp of approval that it meets the highest global standards on wood legality.
APP’s Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper Mill in Serang, Java, was awarded its SVLK certification at a ceremony in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, last week.
This comes just one month after the certification of three other APP facilities in Indonesia.1 The company’s remaining Indonesian mills are forecasting SVLK certification before the end of 2012.
“With the need to meet the growing demand for pulp and paper products in North America and worldwide that adhere to the highest standards of legality, SVLK certifications provide the necessary independent chain of custody verification to provide our customers with the ability to procure our products with confidence,” said Ian Lifshitz, North American Director of Sustainability and Public Affairs for APP.
SVLK certification is part of the due-diligence system that satisfies U.S. legal requirements mandated under a 2008 amendment to the Lacey Act, the conservation law designed, in part, to protect against the import of illegal timber-based products.
Beyond fulfillment of international legality standards, APP launched its 2020 Sustainability Roadmap in June, setting the company on a path to become wholly reliant on raw materials from plantations alone by 2015. In addition to that, independent auditors are now conducting assessments in a commitment to the internationally-accepted principles of High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) which will include both owned and independent pulpwood suppliers. While HCVF assessment is ongoing, the company has suspended natural forest conversion on its production forest concessions until an HCVF management plan is implemented.
“We understand that being a market leader in pulp and paper requires continuous improvement in our operations to meet the expectations of the most rigorous standards for both legality and sustainability in Indonesia and worldwide. We look forward to being able to continue to share our progress with the industry and our customers,” said Lifshitz.
About APP Indonesia:
Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP) is a brand umbrella for paper products, which are produced by several mills in Indonesia such as PT Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper Tbk, PT Pindo Deli Pulp & Paper Mills, PT Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia Tbk, PT Lontar Papyrus Pulp & Paper Industries, and PT Ekamas Fortuna. APP is headquartered in Indonesia and markets its product to more than 120 countries. Most of APP's production facilities are Chain-of-Custody certified by LEI and PEFC. APP supports several main conservation initiatives, including a 178,000 hectare Biosphere Reserve in Giam Siak Kecil - Bukit Batu and an area of 106,000 hectares for the Senepis Tiger Sanctuary. Both are located in the province of Riau, Sumatera. Other APP wildlife preservation initiatives include the support of the Kutai Orangutan Program in Kalimantan and the conservation of the Javan Rhino in Ujung Kulon National Park.
About SVLK:
Enacted in 2009 by the Indonesian government, the SVLK system creates a rigorous chain of custody process designed to ensure that mills only receive and process timber from legal sources and that all products exported from the country are traceable to verifiable points of origin. Certification is provided through certification bodies accredited by the National Accreditation Committee (KAN) and independently monitored by the Forestry Independent Monitoring Network, which consists of civil society and forestry industry experts.
1 The other APP mills to have received certifications are PT Pindo Deli Pulp & Paper Mills in Karawang, PT Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia in Sidoarjo, and PT Ekamas Fortuna in Malang. All of these mills are located in Java.