The truth is the presence of MTH fiber says nothing about whether the product is sustainable or not. It is perfectly possible for MTH fiber to come from legal and sustainable sources.
In fact, independent testing done by Covey Consulting in Australia last year showed that MTH fiber was present in many products that were approved by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) under its ‘Mixed Source’ Certification.
MTH can be found easily in recycled paper, or it can come from the legal and sustainable harvesting of trees in primary rainforest. It can also come from tree residues that are cleared, after a forest area has become degraded, logged-over or burned, as part of a sustainable development plan. You can find MTH, referred to as ‘rainforest fiber’ by Greenpeace, in everyday life. You can find it in your house flooring, furniture, wooden decoration, toys and musical instruments, as well as numerous other items.
As far as APP products are concerned, MTH does NOT come from the felling of virgin tropical rainforest trees in Indonesia. APP has strict policies and practices in place to ensure that only residues from legal plantation development on degraded or logged-over forest areas and sustainable wood fiber enters the production supply chain.
Just last week, APP announced an enhancement to its environmental strategy by adopting the internationally-accepted standard of High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF), with a view to conserving more of Indonesia’s precious natural resources. APP is already taking steps to operationalize this globally-accepted environmental and social standard developed by the HCV Resource Network. Our announcement was welcomed by the Government of Indonesia, environmentalists and industry stakeholders alike. We deeply appreciate their support as we take these critical steps to evolve our business to further protect HCVF, including our commitment to suspend all natural forest clearance on our owned concessions on June 1, 2012.
APP deplores this distortion of the facts by Greenpeace. We are asking that Greenpeace stops portraying Indonesia and its leading companies as the villains in the fight against climate change at a time when our Government, APP and the rest of Indonesian society are making huge efforts to preserve our rainforests and reduce greenhouse gas emissions substantially over the rest of this decade.
About APP Indonesia
APP Indonesia is a brand umbrella for paper products which are produced by several mills in Indonesia such as PT Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper Tbk, PT Pindo Deli Pulp & Paper Mills, PT PabrikKertas Tjiwi Kimia Tbk, PT Lontar Papyrus Pulp & Paper Industries, and PT Ekamas Fortuna. APP is headquartered in Indonesia and markets its product to more than 120 countries. Most of APP’s production facilities are Chain-of-Custody certified by LEI and PEFC. APP supports several main conservation initiatives, including a 178,000 hectare Biosphere Reserve in Giam Siak Kecil - Bukit Batu and an area of 106,000 hectare for the Senepis Tiger Sanctuary. Both are located in the province of Riau, Sumatra. Other APP wildlife preservation initiatives include the support of the Kutai Orangutan Program in Kalimantan and the conservation of the Javan Rhino in Ujung Kulon National Park. For more information, please visit: www.rainforestrealities.com or www.asiapulppaper.com.