At the 2011 FSC general assembly, the FSC membership mandated FSC to conduct a study to evaluate the risks and benefits of valuing pre-consumer reclaimed paper fibre materials as FSC-certified content (Motion 38). The study was to consider economic, environmental, and social aspects of pre-consumer reclaimed paper.
At its 66th meeting in July 2014, the FSC International Board of Directors decided that pre-consumer reclaimed paper will now count as equivalent to FSC-certified and post-consumer reclaimed materials for the purpose of percentage and credit claims calculations.
The FSC Policy and Standards Unit was instructed to implement the decision in the revision process of FSC-STD-40-004. As this revision has been delayed, the Board has approved an advice note to bring the decision forward and to allow companies to start applying it.
Please note: This Advice Note will be withdrawn at the effective date of the chain of custody standard (FSC-STD-40-004 V3-0).