Michelle Lalonde
August 6, 2009

In what environmentalists are hailing as a "monumental" move in the right direction, the largest paper-tissue manufacturer in the world announced a new environmental policy yesterday that is expected to help protect Quebec\'s boreal forest from unsustainable logging practices.

Kimberly-Clark Corp., maker of Kleenex, Scott and Cottonelle brands, has pledged by 2012 to stop buying wood fibre from the Canadian boreal forest that is not certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

At a joint news conference in Washington, D.C., yesterday, officials for Kimberly-Clark and the Greenpeace environmental group announced they were burying the hatchet. Greenpeace had waged a four-year public relations campaign it called "Kleercut," which urged companies, institutions and consumers not to buy Kimberly-Clark\'s products.

Greenpeace and other advocacy groups consider certification by the Forest Stewardship Council to be the most demanding environmental certification program for forest management. Canada\'s boreal forest, characterized by the predominance of coniferous trees, is the largest intact natural forest in North America.

"Regarding our use of fibre from the Canadian boreal forest, we, like Greenpeace, recognize these forests are of high conservation interest and these areas must be managed responsibly," said Suhas Apte, Kimberly-Clark vice-president (global marketing).

The company also pledged that by 2012, 40 per cent of the tissue fibres it purchases from North American sources will be recycled or FSC-certified. The firm purchased an estimated 400,000 tonnes of tissue fibres from Canadian sources in 2007.

"Because of how big Kimberly-Clark is, and how much pulp it purchases in Canada and around the world, this is going to shift the global forest industry toward much more sustainable forest management," said Richard Brooks, of Greenpeace Canada.

The change in policy at Kimberly-Clark could be good or bad for Quebec\'s forestry industry, Brooks said, depending on how fast the government, logging companies and pulp and paper mills green up their operations.

"Those doing the right thing will have a strengthened relationship with Kimberly-Clark," he said, adding the new policy will challenge competitors like Georgia-Pacific and Proctor & Gamble to adopt similar policies.

Also, logging firms like AbitibiBowater will have to step up efforts to get FSC certification if they want to sell pulp to Kimberly-Clark, Brooks said.

mlalonde@thegazette.canwest.com