Green Update: FSC®Controlled Wood
From the core materials we use to the most beautiful of veneers, wood is the basis of all that we do at Eggers Industries. Wood is a wonderful natural resource, which provides not only strength and durability but also beauty which is unparalleled by any other building material.
Over the years wood has stirred the emotions of many environmentalists. The conservation of wood is important not only to Eggers, but to everyone. Wood and wood by-products do many things from providing shelter and warmth to a livelihood for the numerous people directly involved with its uses.
The forests of the world have been under stress for decades and in many areas of the world that continues today. Even though great strides have been made in the conservation of these natural resources, a lot more work needs to be done. Organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Rainforest Alliance and the US Green Building Council (USGBC) have made forest conservation a top priority. Due to the work of these organizations more and more wood is being harvested from sustainable forest lands. Currently, FSC alone has over 333 million acres of forest land certified as sustainable; this includes forests in South America, Africa and Indonesia.
FSC continues to evolve to improve the sustainability of the world’s forest. In 2004, FSC introduced the concept of FSC Controlled Wood, which is that all non-certified virgin wood used in an FSC product be verified against requirements to avoid controversial sources. The Controlled Wood concept was phased into FSC certifications beginning in late 2004 with a final deadline in 2007. For input material to be classified as controlled, companies must verify its sources to avoid the following unacceptable categories:
- Illegally harvested
- Harvested in violation of the traditional and civil rights of the indigenous people
- Harvested from areas of high conservation concern
- Harvested from forest land is being converted into non-forest land use
- Harvested from trees that are genetically modified
Organizations which comply with the FSC Controlled Wood standard are able to supply FSC Controlled Wood to FSC certified companies such as Eggers for use in our FSC certified doors and plywood.
In the coming months, Eggers will be converting to the purchase of FSC Controlled Wood for the non-FSC Certified components in our FSC Certified Products. This will be for all domestic species, such as oak, maple and cherry, which are harvested in the United States and Canada. Eventually all of our domestic stock veneer and lumber components will be FSC Controlled Wood. We will be using FSC Controlled Wood for domestic species in all products not only FSC certified products. With the committed help from our Purchasing group, we were able to work with our suppliers to get this to work with no financial impact. We were able to identify which suppliers could supply us with the material and worked with others who currently can not but will be able to in the near future.
FSC certified products have become an important product line for Eggers and is a significant part of our portfolio. In 2010, Eggers manufactured over 35,000 FSC doors and 5,800 plywood panels on almost 1,100 orders. As FSC evolves, so will Eggers so that we can continue to provide sustainable products
This was truly a win-win for Eggers. Conserving our natural resources is as much an honor as it is a responsibility at Eggers Industries. It’s a philosophy and a practice that echoes through Eggers.
