Australian Paper loses FSC certificate for Reflex office brand

It is believed that Reflex lost the environmental badge after Australian Paper withdrew its request to have timber supplied by VicForests certified by the FSC.

Shaun Scallan, general manger for corporate social responsibility for Australian Paper, said the brand still retains PEFC along with the Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) and said it was not clear what the paper maker needed to do to get its FSC approval back.

He also pointed out that the FSC logo has not actually appeared on Reflex packaging since the start of the year because FSC’s design guidelines mean it can’t appear alongside logos of competing chain of custody programs, such as PEFC and AFS.

Scallan said it was too early to determine whether the move away from FSC would harm Reflex.

The Wilderness Society used the news as ammunition in its ongoing campaign against the Reflex brand due to Australian Paper’s use of woodchips from native forests in Victoria.

Sarah Rees, a spokesperson from Victorian environmental group My Environment Inc, said the VicForests’ logging practices were endangering the native Leadbeater’s Possum.

“Native forest woodchips from Victoria are poison when it comes to gaining Forest Stewardship Certification, because Victoria’s native forest logging practices are an international disgrace and completely unsustainable,” she said.