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Last Updated on May 30, 2023 by Packoi Team
This is why looking for an FSC certification will ensure that your efforts to be more sustainable are making a positive impact on the environment.
In this article, you’ll get 13 different reasons why you should look for FSC-certified packaging boxes – including how it’ll benefit your business and brand reputation.
Why Cardboard Box Packaging Is Great – But It Isn’t Enough…
There’s nothing wrong with using cardboard boxes as your product packaging. It’s one of the most commonly used packaging materials because it’s very flexible. You can have it in any shape or size that you want.
But the most important benefit is the fact that cardboard comes from a renewable natural resource. It comes from trees that can be replaced by planting more trees. This is the driving factor that makes this material popular as more businesses are choosing environmentally-friendly solutions.
Another reason why cardboard is considered a sustainable packaging material is that it’s biodegradable and recyclable. Paper-based products like cardboard can be recycled by up to 7 times. Once it’s thrown and past its recycling life cycle, it can decompose in a year. Unlike plastic which stays as trash for hundreds of years, cardboard won’t endanger animals. When recycled, it’s just one waste material that can stay out of landfills for some time.
Using recycled cardboard boxes also consumes less energy compared to other packaging materials. And that gets better if you encourage customers to reuse the boxes.
This is why it’s one of the best sustainable packaging materials out there.
But there’s one problem.
The popularity of cardboard boxes has led to the exploitation of trees through illegal logging and deforestation. The world’s forests are getting depleted and we all have to do our part to stop this from happening. If not, global warming and climate change will get worse.
Does that mean we should stop using cardboard and paper-based packaging? No.
We just need to make sure that the cardboard materials that we use are being responsibly sourced.
This is where FSC certification comes in.
The Forest Stewardship Council
FSC is short for Forest Stewardship Council. It’s an organization that guarantees responsibly produced wood for the circular economy.
The FSC creates common global principles that are used to certify companies, manufacturers, and forest owners. The organization doesn’t do the auditing itself. They partner with several third-party certification bodies.
Every independent certification firm helps check the supply chain for compliance with responsible forest management and eco-friendly initiatives. They give either a Forest Management Certification or a Chain of Custody certification.
If you get FSC-certified cardboard for your product packaging, it means you comply with the principles set by the FSC. It allows you to use the FSC logo and any of the 3 labels – FSC-100% label, FSC mix, and FSC-recycled label.
These are all proof that you’re doing your part to help save the environment.
4 Environmental Reasons to Specifically Use FSC-Certified Packaging
Using FSC-certified packaging brings a lot of environmental benefits. Previously, we’ve mentioned how cardboard can be beneficial. Using a material with FSC certification takes that up a notch.
Here are the 4 environmental reasons to use FSC-certified cardboard.
It Supports The Sustainable Management Of Forests
The very mandate of the Forest Stewardship Council is to ensure that no more trees are exploited for economic growth. They’ve set their principles to ensure responsible forest management. It allows us to use trees for paper-based products without compromising this natural resource for future generations.
The FSC gives certification to companies that strictly practice proper forest management. If the supplier you’re working with has this certification or uses the FSC logo, you can trust that they are helping protect the forests.
It Helps Reduce CO2 Emissions
Forests play an important role in absorbing the CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. But it’s the young trees that absorb it the most. Old and decaying trees release CO2 into the air.
In responsibly managed forests that the FSC certifies, the older trees are cut – not the new ones. Then they are replaced with more young trees.
That means every time old trees are cut down, it ends up being beneficial to the environment.
It Enables Tracking of FSC-Certified Cardboard
The FSC has set up an efficient and credible system that provides every FSC-certified material with its own certification number.
Why is this necessary?
It helps implement the FSC’s strict international control system along the supply chain. It guarantees that a product that bears the FSC-recycled label goes through COC-certified companies only.
This Chain of Custody certification is proof that everyone that touches the product in the supply chain adheres to the principles and standards of responsible forest management.
It Preserves the Natural Environment and Habitats
With all the safeguards being implemented through the Forest Management Certification, more responsibly managed forests are preserved completely.
FSC-certified forests are safe from becoming hunting grounds. This turns it into sacred grounds for natural wildlife to flourish.
Responsibly produced wood protects the habitat of animals and keeps the ecosystem healthy and strong.
4 Social Benefits of Using FSC-Certified Packaging
Using the FSC logo tells people that you’re part of a supply chain that doesn’t just care for the well-being of forests. You’re also supporting the local communities around the FSC-certified forests.
Here are 4 social benefits when you using FSC-certified cardboard for your product packaging.
It Protects the Lifestyles of Indigenous Communities
Local populations around forests rely on it for livelihood. If you support the FSC through your certification, you get to protect their way of living.
Your support and adherence to the principles of the FSC ensure that deforestation and illegal logging won’t be a threat to the lifestyle of the indigenous communities.
It Promotes Fair Wages
FSC-certified companies are required to provide their workers with fair wages.
That means your support of FSC-certified materials will ensure that local populations won’t be exploited. They will get their just reward for the effort that put into caring for forests certified by the FSC.
This leads us to the next benefit.
It Supports the Local Economy
When there’s responsible management of resources, you can trust that the forest revenues will be properly managed as well. This is how giving fair wages becomes possible.
By getting FSC-certified packaging from the right sources, you’re supporting the local economy which allows the community to improve its forest management practices. This will result in better products that you can also benefit from.
When local economies flourish, it helps improve the facilities in the area and uplift the life of the people living there.
It Ensures Law-Abiding Processes and Production
Part of the requirements of the FSC is adherence to the local rules and regulations in the land.
To maintain their certification, forest owners are required to comply with their local laws.
The same is true for FSC-certified companies. They have to ensure fair wages, a conducive working environment, and safety equipment for their people.
5 Economic Rewards of Using FSC-Certified Packaging
While all the benefits you’ve read so far affect your life positively, it does nothing to directly improve your business. But don’t worry. Your business will enjoy various economic rewards if you use FSC-certified packaging.
You can get a promotional license certification if you buy from a cardboard packaging manufacturer with an FSC certification. It gives you the right to use their FSC logo and labels.
Once you attach these to your products, you can enjoy 6 distinct benefits.
It Meets Customer Expectations
Using FSC-certified packaging made of cardboard material will meet your customer’s expectations. Several studies reveal how consumers prefer to buy from companies that practice sustainability.
By carrying the FSC logo, you get to prove this to your customers and encourage them to support your products as well.
It Improves the Brand Reputation
With more customers patronizing your products, you get to improve your brand reputation. You’ll be known as a company that supports sustainability and use eco-friendly packaging materials.
You don’t have to show a Chain of Custody certification. The labels of the FSC will be enough to make your product trustworthy in the eyes of your market.
The best thing about this is it’ll affect even the reputation of the products you’ll launch in the future.
It Creates A New Marketing Angle
You can use your FSC-certified packaging to create a new campaign that’ll make your brand stand out. When you launch your new cardboard packaging, you can highlight that it’s “FSC-certified.”
Even if some people don’t know what it means, some of them will be curious enough to do their research. This will reveal to them your eco-friendly efforts which will hopefully convince them to buy your product.
It’s Endorsed by Global Organizations
Do you know what else you can highlight when you use FSC-certified cardboard packaging? You can add the fact that known organizations support it.
The FSC has a global labeling scheme that powerful green organizations support like Greenpeace, Forests of the World, and WWF.
You can use that to position your brand as an authentic sustainable figure in the market.
It Increases Revenue
With all the hype surrounding your FSC-certified cardboard packaging, you’ll surely get more customer inquiries about your product.
This increases the chances that people will buy from you. It would also make current customers feel more loyal to you.
That’s one way to improve the company’s profitability and achieve business growth.
Do You Want to Know More About FSC-Certified Cardboard Boxes? Packoi Printing Can Help.
If you’re convinced that using FSC-certified cardboard materials will benefit your business, it’s time to do something about it.
The next step is to find an FSC-certified packaging supplier to get responsibly sourced materials.
That’s what Packoi Printing can help with. We are FSC-certified and we can help you design the right sustainable cardboard packaging for your product.
Contact us with your details and we’ll send you a quotation soon.
