Let’s do the math. Seven minus four equals… a whole lot better, at least when it comes to the labeling of FSC products. As discussed by FSC Canada’s Monika Patel in a recent PaperSpecs webinar, effective January 1, 2011, producers of FSC paper, FSC-certified printers, and other manufacturers of FSC wood and fiber products will be required to switch their labeling from the current the panoply of FSC “pure,” “mixed sources” (there are 5 of those), and “recycled” labels to a simpler set of three – FSC 100%, FSC Mix, and FSC Recycled.

CoC certificate holders can start making the switch now (they have been able to since March), but compliance with the new FSC on-product labeling standard (FSC-STD-50-001 for the standards-junkies among us) becomes mandatory on the first of the new year. Certificate holders will be permitted to sell through their stock of “old labeled” products, obviating the need for and cost of re-labeling.

Besides being much simpler (and, one would hope, more meaningful to the end users for which these ecolabels are intended), the new on-product labeling standard opens the door to a new type of “FSC-recycled” labeled product – one that contains both post- and pre-consumer recycled fiber.  Here’s a quick run-down of the new labels and what they cover. FSC 100% -- This one is as straightforward as it comes. The product bearing the FSC 100% label contains 100% virgin fiber from FSC-certified forests. No recycled content. No “controlled wood.” FSC Mix – Products bearing the FSC Mix label contain a combination of FSC-certified virgin fiber and controlled wood and/or recycled fiber. In addition, the “chasing arrows” recycled symbol and the percentage of post- and pre-consumer recycled material incorporated into the product can be included if the product contains recycled fiber. FSC Recycled – Products bearing this label contain 100% recycled fiber. The product must contain at least 85% post-consumer recycled material, and may contain up to 15% pre-consumer recycled material. This “chasing arrows” recycled symbol also can be included on this label.  However, the stated percentage of recycled fiber always will be 100%, as the labeling standard does not provide for the differentiation of pre- and post-consumer content. The last of these is a big change, signifying that FSC is finally getting its head around the realities of the recycled-paper world and is acknowledging that pre-consumer waste is an important part of the recycled fiber flow. That said, the post-consumer content threshold of the new FSC Recycled label remains at a very high level, reflecting the organization’s historic intent (at least in the eyes of supporters) of being the “gold standard” for certification in a given category. The last change in the labels is the replacement of a Chain-of-Custody certificate code with the new FSC Trademark License Code. A unique license has been issued to each FSC trademark user for on-product labels and promotional applications. But the CoC codes won’t go away entirely – they will be relegated to use on invoices and sales documents. FSC CoC Certificate holders should be able to download customized labels, that including their unique license codes, at FSC’s Certificate Holder Portal.