The paper and packaging industry and PEFC – how did the sustainable timber standard become a prerequisite for collaboration?

Just a few years ago, asking about PEFC in a conversation with a cardboard or paper packaging manufacturer sounded like asking about a bonus. Something that’s nice to have, which boosts your image and allows you to add a line about sustainability to your company materials. Today, that question sounds different – and is asked much earlier in the supplier qualification process. For a growing group of customers, the lack of PEFC certification simply means the end of the conversation.

Where does this change come from, and what is driving it?

The pressure has come from two sides simultaneously. On the one hand, from the largest retail chains and corporations, which have implemented their own procurement policies in the area of sustainability and have begun to require their packaging suppliers to comply with them. On the other hand, from consumers, who are reading labels more carefully and for whom the PEFC or FSC logo on packaging has real significance when choosing a product.

The result is that manufacturers of consumer goods — food, cosmetics, cleaning products, electronics — have begun to pass these requirements down the supply chain. A company producing cardboard packaging for a large supermarket chain or a global FMCG brand is increasingly receiving specifications in which the presence of PEFC or an equivalent standard is a prerequisite, rather than a criterion subject to assessment. This means that certification is increasingly having an impact not only on compliance with customer requirements, but also on sales opportunities and business growth.

Who in the industry is covered by the PEFC Chain of Custody?

The scope is broader than one might think. The PEFC Chain of Custody covers every entity in the supply chain that processes or trades in wood products and wishes to retain the right to label them with the PEFC mark.

In the paper and packaging industry, this includes manufacturers of solid and corrugated cardboard packaging, producers of paper bags and sacks, printing houses producing printed packaging, suppliers of paper and cardboard for further processing, as well as distributors of paper products sold with the PEFC label. In other words, if a product leaves the company with the PEFC logo on the packaging or in the documentation, the company must hold its own Chain of Custody accreditation. Without it, there is no legal basis for using the label.

Retailers and corporations — what does this pressure look like in practice?

The largest retail chains in Europe — including those operating in the Polish market — have already implemented procurement policies regarding packaging materials. They require that paper and cardboard packaging come from certified sources. Some of them accept both PEFC and FSC. Others prefer one of the schemes. But there is one common denominator: an uncertified packaging supplier fails to meet the requirements of the procurement policy and is removed from the list of approved partners.

The same applies to major FMCG brands that report on ESG and must demonstrate a responsible approach to raw materials in their non-financial reports. Packaging is one of the first and most visible areas to feature in such reports — and one of the easiest to document if the supplier holds PEFC certification.

For a packaging manufacturer, this means one thing: a company without PEFC certification may still be able to serve smaller clients without such requirements today, but the segment of large, stable clients with ESG requirements is virtually off-limits to it.

PEFC as a selling point in negotiations for new contracts

Companies in the paper and packaging industry that hold PEFC Chain of Custody certification and actively promote it report a similar effect: the standard has become part of their commercial offering, rather than merely a document in a folder of certificates. It comes up early in discussions with new clients — as a signal that the company is prepared for the requirements of major customers and will not cause problems during the supplier audit stage. For this reason, for many companies, PEFC certification is becoming not only a key element of their environmental policy, but also an investment that supports sales growth and entry into the supply chains of major brands.

In an industry where margins are under pressure and it is difficult to stand out on price, operational readiness and documentary reliability have real tender value. PEFC is one of the elements that confirm this readiness — quickly, clearly and in a way that is understandable to any procurement department.