Promoting sustainable forest management

Full PEFC accreditation achieved

4 July 2008

Kimberly-Clark Australia’s consumers will now be able to buy tissue products knowing they meet thorough and stringent requirements for sustainable forest management of wood supplies.

Kimberly-Clark Australia’s tissue manufacturing has been accredited under the PEFC scheme, the international Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification – as “promoting sustainable forest management”.

A key requirement of the PEFC accreditation is that forest areas that meet detailed sustainable forest management standards are inspected and certified by skilled auditors.

“The PEFC process requires us to track all timber and forest products from certified forests through the entire supply. This covers all stages of harvesting, processing and our tissue manufacturing,” said Dr Harley Wright, Kimberly-Clark Australia’s Environmental Manager.

Kleenex^® Cottonelle^® product already displays the PEFC logo and Kimberly-Clark Australia’s unique PEFC accreditation number on its packaging. The new packaging will be available in stores in mid August this year.

“Our detailed calculations confirm that all KCA tissue products have over 80% of fibre sourced from forests accredited under the PEFC scheme as sustainably managed. The PEFC scheme also requires that 100% of wood is legally sourced.

“We also have our own stringent fibre auditing processes through which we monitor compliance and fibre sourcing. We are now working with suppliers to aim for 100% of our wood and fibres to come from certified sustainable forest sources, under the chain of custody requirements.

“The chain of custody accreditation for all of our mills in Australia is a great achievement and reinforces that our company truly cares about sustainability and the environmental impacts of our products.”