Certified timber purchases soar

The amount of certified timber products bought under The Timber Trade Federation’s Responsible Purchasing Policy has almost doubled since 2007.

The latest annual report based on submissions for 2009 showed that 80.5% by volume of all products purchased by TTF members signed up to the RPP scheme were certified and third-party legally verified. A further 6.5% were third-party legally verified.

The high level of certification of softwood products, more than 97%, is expected to increase slightly while panel products are also expected to show an increase.

The diverse supply sources for hardwoods continues to keep the level of certification and verification relatively low compared with other product groups, the RPP report said. However, according to signatories’ targets, the level is expected to grow.

Jermain Cheetham, timber and sustainable product policy manager for Wolseley in the UK and Europe and chairman of Forests Forever, highlighted the success of RPP.

“I applaud RPP signatories for the excellent job they have done in increasing the volume of purchases from certified and legally-verified sources,” he said. “When companies like Wolseley look at the responsible sourcing of products, I can honestly say the timber industry is still ahead of the game.”