FSC Certification- Sungmin

Our printing mill, Sungmin, recently obtained FSC certification at bulk production stage and we are currently working on certifying the entire supply chain. The Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) mission is to “promote environmentally sound, socially beneficial and environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically prosperous management of the world’s forests”.

As FSC states: “certifiers assess forest management and chain of custody operations using the FSC standards. Certifiers are independent of FSC and the companies they are auditing. This third-party verification is crucial to the integrity of the FSC system”.

The FSC trademarks (identifiable by the checkmark-and-tree logo) provide a guarantee to consumers that the products they buy come from responsible sources. This allows environmentally conscious consumers to select products that: support forest conservation, offer social benefits, and enable the market to provide an incentive for better forest management. FSC labels that can be seen on certified products are as follows:

Brands Advocating FSC

There are many brands that advocate FSC. Some notable apparel brands include Stella McCartney, Zara, Eileen Fisher, Quiksilver, Lululemon, Patagonia, and Ralph Lauren.

As suppliers for Ralph Lauren Corporation (RLC), we back their support for systems committed to building a future that does not use ancient and endangered forests in packaging, paper or in man-made cellulosic fabrics. This includes rayon, viscose, lyocell, modal and other trademarked brands. According to Ralph Lauren’s Forest Protection Policy, “RLC requests that all fabric, packaging and paper are sourced from forests that are responsibly managed, certified to the Forest Stewardship Council certification system, and where FSC certified plantations are part of the solution”.

That being said, our Viscose Crinkle GGT and Viscose Flat Chiffon can be supplied FSC certified at the bulk production stage. To learn more about our material and see our Viscose Crinkle GGT applied on Ralph Lauren products, click here.

Additionally, RLC collaborates with Canopy’s Pack4Good initiative. Canopy partners with companies around the world to ensure world’s ancient and endangered forests do not end up as single-use packaging. To view Canopy’s other partners, click here.

• Sources: Canopy, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Ralph Lauren