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SFI Labels and Claims

The SFI program has on-product labels to help customers and consumers identify exactly what they are buying: three SFI chain of custody labels and one SFI certified sourcing label.

• SFI chain of custody labels allow the use of fiber from certified forests, certified sourcing, and post-consumer recycled material. All of these terms are defined in the SFI Definitions (Section 13 of the SFI 2010-2014 Standard Requirements). Certified forest content can include fiber certified under the SFI 2010-2014 Standard (objectives for land management), Canadian Standards Association (CAN/CSA-Z809) and/or the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) individual and group certification.
• The SFI certified sourcing label and claim do not make claims about certified forest content. Certified sourcing can include fiber sourced from a company that conforms with objectives 8-20 of Section 2 - SFI 2010-2014 Standard's fiber sourcing requirements, from pre or post consumer recycled content, or from a certified forest, and fiber sourced from non-controversial sources. Certified sourcing is a defined term in the SFI Definitions (Section 13 of the SFI 2010-2014 Standard Requirements).

A note on label usage: Organizations that want to use SFI program labels must contact the SFI Office of Label Use and Licensing, which must approve the use of all SFI labels and claims.

A. Certified Chain of Custody SFI Labels and Claims

The SFI program has three certified chain-of-custody labels, each communicating that a chain of custody has been third party certified. The certified chain-of-custody tracks fiber from certified forest content, certified sourcing, and post-consumer recycled content. All of these terms are defined in the SFI Definitions (Section 13 of the SFI 2010-2014 Standard Requirements). In order to use any of the chain of custody labels, a company must be third party certified by an accredited certification body.

• Chain of Custody Labels for Average Percentage Method
  The average percentage method allows manufacturers to consistently label 100% of their products with the average percentage labels. Use of the average percentage labels is contingent on the production batch having at least 10% certified forest content. The SFI certified company must communicate the actual percent of certified forest content on the label. For example, if the SFI certified company has an average of 15% of their fiber supply from certified forests, the company must state 15% on the label using one of the two labels depicted below.

     

  A company that uses the average percentage method must use the "At Least X% Certified Forest Content" label or the "X%" Label. Each of the terms on the label below are defined in the SFI Definitions (Section 13 of the SFI 2010-2014 Standard Requirements).
  • Certified forest content is defined as: Raw material from lands third-party certified to acceptable forest management standards.
    
    Acceptable forest management standards are defined as: standards endorsed in North America by the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC).
    • SFI 2010-2014 Standard (objectives for land management)
    • Canadian Standards Association (CAN/CSA-Z809)
    • American Tree Farm System (ATFS) individual and group certification
  
  
  • Post consumer recycled content is defined as: Material generated by households or by commercial, industrial and institutional facilities in their role as end-users of the product, which can no longer be used for its intended purpose.
    
    Post-consumer recycled content can count towards the calculation of certified content percentages but must always be communicated as post-consumer recycled content and not certified forest content.
    
    Any claims about post-consumer recycled content by Program Participants and label users shall be accurate and consistent with applicable law. Program Participants and label users are encouraged to consult the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's guidelines on environmental claims in product advertising and communication and the guidelines on environmental labeling and advertising issued by the Fair Business Practices Branch of Industry Canada's Competition Bureau, as appropriate, and to seek additional information and direction from national accreditation bodies, national standards bodies, and national, state and provincial consumer protection and competition laws.

 

• Chain of Custody Label for Volume Credit Method
  The volume credit method allows a company to label only the percentage of output corresponding to the percentage of certified forest content used in the manufacturing process. For example, if the company uses 30% certified forest content in its manufacturing facility over the course of a year, it can use the volume credit method to label 30% of that year's output with the "Promoting Sustainable Forestry" label.

  

  A company that uses the volume credit method must use the label that reads, "Promoting Sustainable Forestry." Sustainable Forestry is a defined term in the SFI Definitions (Section 13 of the SFI 2010-2014 Standard Requirements).
  • Sustainable forestry: To meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs by practicing a land stewardship ethic that integrates reforestation and the managing, growing, nurturing, and harvesting of trees for useful products and ecosystem services such as the conservation of soil, air and water quality, carbon, biological diversity, wildlife and aquatic habitat, recreation, and aesthetics.
    
    In addition, the SFI 2010-2014 Standard is based on 14 principles for sustainable forestry.

 

• Adding the Mobius Loop
  All of the chain-of-custody labels can include a Mobius loop stating the percentage of post-consumer recycled content in the product. Post-consumer recycled content is a defined term in the SFI Definitions (Section 13 of the SFI 2010-2014 Standard Requirements).

         

 

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B. Certified Sourcing SFI Label and Claim

The SFI certified sourcing label and claim do not make claims about certified forest content. Certified sourcing can include fiber sourced from a company that conforms with objectives 8-20 of Section 2 - SFI 2010-2014 Standard's fiber sourcing requirements, from pre or post consumer recycled content, or from a certified forest, and fiber sourced from non-controversial sources. Certified sourcing is a defined term in the SFI Definitions (Section 13 of the SFI 2010-2014 Standard Requirements).

Any company that is certified to objectives 8-20 of Section 2 - SFI 2010-2014 Standard's fiber sourcing requirements or is certified to Section 4- SFI Certified Sourcing Label Use Requirements can use the certified sourcing label as shown below.

The certified sourcing definition includes all the fiber inputs that can count towards the use of the certified sourcing label and the certified sourcing tagline in the x% chain of custody label.

   certified sourcing: is defined as raw material sourced from the following sources confirmed by a certification body:

• Fiber that conforms with objectives 8-20 of Section 2 - SFI 2010-2014 Standard's fiber sourcing requirements.
• Pre-Consumer Recycled Content: Material diverted from the waste stream during a manufacturing process. It does not include materials such as rework, regrind or scrap generated in a process and capable of being reclaimed within the same process.
  Any claims about pre-consumer recycled content by Program Participants or label users shall be accurate and consistent with applicable law. Program Participants and label users are encouraged to consult the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's guidelines on environmental claims in product advertising and communication and the guidelines on environmental labeling and advertising issued by the Fair Business Practices Branch of Industry Canada's Competition Bureau, as appropriate, and to seek additional information and direction from national accreditation bodies, national standards bodies and national, state and provincial consumer protection and competition laws.
• Post-consumer recycled content: Material generated by households or by commercial, industrial and institutional facilities in their role as end-users of the product, which can no longer be used for its intended purpose.
  Any claims about post-consumer recycled content by Program Participants and label users shall be accurate and consistent with applicable law. Program Participants and label users are encouraged to consult the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's guidelines on environmental claims in product advertising and communication and the guidelines on environmental labeling and advertising issued by the Fair Business Practices Branch of Industry Canada's Competition Bureau, as appropriate, and to seek additional information and direction from national accreditation bodies, national standards bodies, and national, state and provincial consumer protection and competition laws.
• Certified forest content, which includes content from specific forest tracts that are third-party certified to conform with the SFI 2010-2014 Standard's forest land management requirements (Objectives 1-7 and 14-20) or other acceptable forest management standards (e.g. CAN/CSA-Z809 and ATFS).
• Non-controversial sources: If the raw material is sourced from outside of the United States and Canada, the organization shall establish adequate measures to ensure that the labeled products do not come from controversial sources. See Section 3, 3.6 and Section 4, 6.1 on the process to avoid controversial sources. Up to one third of the supply for secondary producers can come from non-controversial sources for use of the certified sourcing label; the other two-thirds must come from the sources defined under the certified sourcing definition— fiber that conforms with objectives 8-20 of Section 2, pre consumer fiber, post consumer fiber, and/or certified forest content.

 

Other Items on the SFI Label – Below is a list of other items that are mandatory as part of the SFI label.

1. The SFI website is always mandatory.
2. Either the words “Sustainable Forestry Initiative” or “SFI” are mandatory
3. The claim (i.e. "Certified Sourcing," "Promoting Sustainable Forestry" or the x% taglines) is mandatory.
4. When using the chain-of-custody labels, the additional tagline "Chain of Custody" is mandatory.
5. The Label ID number is mandatory on all labels
6. When the product is not 100 percent certified, the label must clearly communicate what portion of the product the label applies to (i.e. this label only applies to the cover stock).
7. When selling the product as SFI chain-of-custody certified, the SFI chain-of-custody number must be communicated to the customer at the time of sale. Communication methods include, but are not limited to, invoices, bill of lading, shipping documents, or letters.
8. When using the average percent method, the company must also disclose the actual percent from a certified forest to their customer at the time of sale.