Circular Economy

Two-Thirds of Scholastic Books Now Sourced From FSC-Certified Paper

Scholastic, Inc., leading publisher of books for children and young adults, announced on Monday that it now purchases 68.2 percent of its paper from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified sources, surpassing its original goal of increasing the amount of FSC-certified paper purchased for its publications to 30 percent by 2012.The global children's publishing, education and media company says that after making significant gains toward the FSC goal between 2008 and 2011, it increased its goal for 2012 from 30 percent to 35 percent of all paper purchased to be FSC-certified. Scholastic also pledged to by the same date increase its use of recycled paper to 25 percent, of which 75 percent would be post-consumer waste.

By Mike Hower | Published 11 years ago | About a 2 minute read

The global children's publishing, education and media company says that after making significant gains toward the FSC goal between 2008 and 2011, it increased its goal for 2012 from 30 percent to 35 percent of all paper purchased to be FSC-certified. Scholastic also pledged to by the same date increase its use of recycled paper to 25 percent, of which 75 percent would be post-consumer waste.

In 2012, Scholastic says it purchased 75,837.1 tons of paper of which 51,743 tons (68.2%) was FSC-certified, up from 3.6% in 2007. In addition, 13,745 tons (18.2%) of the fiber used to produce the paper was recovered waste paper, up from 13.5% in 2007, and of that amount, 11,299 tons (82.2%) was produced from PCW fiber, up from 80.7% in 2007.

"Now with more than 2/3 of their paper from FSC-certified sources, Scholastic continues to prove that forest stewardship and running a successful publishing enterprise can and should go hand in hand,” said Corey Brinkema, President of the Forest Stewardship Council U.S.

Scholastic failed to meet its goal of increasing the use of recycled paper, which it says is due to the decrease in the average amount of recycled fiber used by the manufacturers of printing and writing recycled paper grades. However, the company has extended its timeframe to 2015 and says it is looking for alternative ways to make up the additional recycled fiber objective. This includes continuing to negotiate with paper suppliers to increase their recycled content, labeling more recyclable products with the "Please Recycle" logo to encourage customers to dispose of materials responsibly and continuing to work with the Green Press Initiative to find ways to make more recycled paper available to publishers.

"As a company that serves young people with educational and entertaining books and learning materials, we remain committed to making sure our children also have a healthy environment in which to live and grow,” said Maureen O'Connell, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of Scholastic.

Scholastic is continuing a movement that largely began in 2002 with a collaboration between Canadian NGO Canopy and Harry Potter publisher Raincoast Books, to print the fifth book in the Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, on 100% post-consumer recycled paper

In related news, Monadnock Paper Mills recently announced its membership in the Gift Card Network and its educational committee to raise awareness of the benefits of forest materials as alternatives to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and bioplastics for gift card programs. Monadnock, along with fellow manufacturers of sustainable card materials, say they will contribute educational resources and drive discussions around ecological options for card production.

Mike Hower

Founder & Principal Consultant, Hower Impact

Mike Hower is the founder of Hower Impact — a boutique consultancy delivering best-in-class strategic communication advisory and support for corporate sustainability, ESG and climate tech.

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Forest Stewardship Council