FSC's responsible forest stewardship standards protect animal habitats, conserve biodiversity, protect ancient trees and areas of high nature value, prevent deforestation, safeguard the rights of indigenous peoples, and ensure fair wages and a safe working environment for workers.
All this behind a simple label? Of course, but even more: the FSC labels in fact provide information on the origin of the materials used to make the finished and labeled product.
There are three types of FSC labels:
FSC 100%
The FSC 100% label is affixed to products consisting exclusively of inputs from FSC certified forests.
FSC Recycled
The FSC Recycled label indicates that the wood or paper of which the product is made comes from recycled and recovered material.
FSC Mixed
The FSC Mix label indicates that the wood or paper inside the product comes from FSC certified material, recycled material and/or controlled wood (not less than 70% certified materials and/or recycled materials). Controlled Wood it is a separate category of the FSC system: although it is not FSC certified, controlled wood cannot be harvested illegally; harvested in violation of traditional rights and indigenous peoples; harvested in forests where high conservation values (HCV) are threatened; harvested in forests that are converted to plantations or non-forest use; harvested in forests where genetically modified trees are planted.
What about FSC-certified products that don't have an FSC label?
FSC certified products do not always physically bear the certification label (a window frame, a semi-finished product, a product which for aesthetic reasons does not bear additional indications such as the FSC mark...). When selling such products, it is the FSC sales document from the FSC certified supplier that can give you assurance that you are buying FSC certified products. In fact, the certification of the supplied product must be attested by means of an "FSC declaration" made on the sales and delivery documents of the certified products which indicates at least the category, possibly followed by the "percentage" or "credit" information which indicates the control system applied during the production process.FSC has created a short video to explain the meaning of each of the labels in a simple way, and help to choose products of forest origin in a more conscious way. (Source: https://it.fsc.org /)