As the demand for forest products, such as timber and paper, continues to grow, so does the increasing pressure on the world‘s forests.
The FSC Recycled label was introduced to recognise the vital role that recycled materials have in protecting the world’s forests. Unlike general ‘recycled’ claims, which may not undergo verification, the FSC Recycled label provides assurance that all the wood or paper in a product is genuinely recycled.
Visy Paper produces just that – paper with genuine recycled content, to the FSC standards and operate six Recycled Paper Mills across Australia.
Thank you to Visy Pulp & Paper for inviting FSC to tour their Paper Mill in Tumut NSW, in the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains. This mill uses plantation-grown pine pulpwood, recovered waste paper and market pulp for its processes.
It was an informative experience to learn about the scale of Visy’s operations. There is a sense of appreciation you have for something, after watching its manufacturing process. Seeing first-hand, materials on the way up the conveyer belt and into the plant to generate FSC certified product was a gratifying earning experience.
Touring the plant to see the line of log trucks and containers waiting for outgoing finished products, helped me better understand Visy’s paper business.A little bit of mental math backed up with Visy’s statistics, provided me with a practical understanding into the volume and scale of the Visy Tumut operations which produce approximately 690,000 tonnes of Kraft Liner per annum.
The visit highlighted the challenges of sourcing of timber in the longer term and the need to incentivise expansion of forests to meet future demands.We look forward to Visy’s plans for more FSC certified products in the future and are encouraged by their efforts to increase FSC certified forests in the area.
With the increasing global demand for timber products, there will always be a need for responsibly sourced native and plantation timbers. It is great to see an on shore sustainable business, thriving from demand for recycled products as we all do our bit to reduce waste.
Thanks to Dean and Carlie for the open dialogue and for being excellent guides, sharing insights on market demand for FSC Certified products, implementation issues and FSC’s role in the market.
FSC welcomes opportunities for our staff to go on field visits as we gain insights into the challenges and benefits of forest & forest product industry operations on the ground.