ABORIGINAL PRINTING AWARDED SFI CERTIFICATION
TORONTO - Aboriginal Printing Corporation, Canada’s largest Aboriginal printer, announced today it has achieved certification to the independent Sustainable Forestry Initiativer (SFIr) chain-of-custody standard.
“I have been respectful of the environment throughout my life, and I want Aboriginal Printing Corporation to reflect this,” said company President Steven Bolduc. “We chose SFI certification because our customers were asking for SFI-certified products, and it’s a good fit. The SFI program stands for responsible forest management, and ensures companies confer with Aboriginal people, understand and respect their traditional knowledge, and protect sites with cultural importance.”
With more than 65 million hectares certified across North America, the non-profit SFI certification program is one of the largest in the world. The SFI standard is based on principles and measures that promote sound forest management
including measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk and forests with exceptional conservation value. Through SFI chain-of-custody certification, companies must have a tracking system in place so they can tell customers the amount of certified, uncertified and recycled content in the forest products they buy, use or sell.
“At a time when just 10 percent of the world’s forests are independently certified, Aboriginal Printing Corporation joins a growing community of companies, landowners, and social and environmental organizations who have demonstrated their environmental commitment and leadership by achieving SFI certification,” said SFI Inc. President and CEO Kathy Abusow.
Bolduc said his goal in creating Aboriginal Printing Corporation was to build opportunities for Aboriginal people while delivering high-quality printing services for customers. “We consider the environment in everything we do - including recycling packaging cartons, toners, wood from paper skids and chemicals,” he said. “Offering our customers SFI-certified paper is one more way to show we care about the land, and care about our forests.”
About Aboriginal Printing Corporation
Aboriginal Printing Corporation (www.aboriginalprinting.com) is the largest 100 per cent Aboriginal-owned printer in Canada. A full-service printer, Aboriginal Printing Corporation has rooted itself in a long tradition of high-quality print services by owning a facility that has been in operation for over 25 years. As part of the Print Three network, it has more than 300 strategic distribution points around the globe so it can service national accounts locally, same day, across Canada and abroad. Facilities include 310 digitally equipped locations, and a large central print production facility in the Greater Toronto Area. Clients include Fortune 500 businesses, government agencies, educational institutions and small enterprise.
The Aboriginal Printing Company is a certified member of the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council of Canada, a non-profit organization that aims to boost economic development efforts for minority owned corporations. The company has also been certified by the Canadian Government as a wholly owned Aboriginal Business and met the stringent requirements under the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Businesses program.
About SFI Inc.
SFI Inc. is a 501c(3) non-profit charitable organization, and is solely responsible for maintaining, overseeing and improving the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program (www.sfiprogram.org), which is internationally recognized and among the largest in the world. It is one of the fastest-growing forest certification programs with over 65 million hectares (160 million acres) of SFI-certified forests across North America. The SFI Standard also includes unique fibre sourcing requirements that promote responsible forest management on all suppliers’ lands and a chain-of-custody certification, which can communicate to buyers how much certified fibre is in a specific product. The SFI forest standard is endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes, a global umbrella organization that has strict requirements for endorsement. SFI Inc. is governed by a three-chamber board of directors representing environmental, social and economic sectors equally.
www.sfiprogram.org