ITC becomes the first Indian company to gain membership with WWF GFTN for responsible forestry
July 01, 2009
ITC's membership of the Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN) is an important milestone in its sustainability journey, and an indicator of ITC's commitment towards certifying its fibre to credible standards and offering its customers products which are certified under labeling programmes of credible schemes like FSC.
The GFTN is WWF's initiative to eliminate illegal logging and improve the management of valuable and threatened forests, while encouraging sustainable forest management practices and minimizing the forest footprint of industries trading in or procuring forest goods.
ITC's Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division (ITC PSPD), draws from the corporate commitment to the Triple Bottom Line, and continuously works towards becoming the benchmark for sustainable practices in the paper industry in all areas of its operations - right from sourcing of fibre, to the efficient use of resources including energy and water, to the disposal of waste and in improving the environmental signature of our products. Taking the lead in the Indian paper industry, ITC PSPD has signed this agreement of membership with WWF GFTN on the 1st of July 2009. ''ITC's participation in the GFTN is in line with its commitment to sustainable forestry management and manufacture of paperboards and paper products from renewable plantations'', said Pradeep Dhobale, Divisional Chief Executive, ITC's Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division. Mr Chand Das, Chief Executive, ITC's Education and Stationery Products Business added - ''ITC's stationery products including Classmate notebooks and Paperkraft premium business paper leverage this eco friendly paper manufactured from renewable sources and using cutting edge environmental technology to provide a quality experience to consumers''
With this membership, and assistance from WWF GFTN, ITC will seek to progressively cover the wood sourced from its farm and social forestry programmes under a credible forest management scheme like FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). The increasing volume of certified fibre sourced from these plantations will enable ITC to offer to discerning customers, products labeled under credible Chain of Custody certification (CoC) schemes like FSC.
This will include business to business products such as packaging boards, graphic application boards and a wide range of communication papers, and its consumer range of paper products like Paperkraft copier and notebooks, and Classmate notebooks marketed by ITC's Education and Stationery Products Business.
This will address the growing need amongst Indian customers to exercise their preference for purchasing environmentally responsible products.
