MEDIA
RELEASE
For Immediate Release
8 September 2009
APP to Launch First LEI Certified Paper Worldwide
Represents a significant milestone in ongoing sustainability efforts
Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and the Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute (Lembaga Ekolabel
Indonesia {LEI}) today announced that five of APP’s pulp and paper mills1 have successfully
achieved Chain of Custody (CoC) certification under the LEI certification program2.
“The LEI CoC certification is a wood-tracking scheme to ensure that LEI-CoC certified
product is sourced from a responsibly-managed forest,” said Agung Prasetyo, Executive
Director of LEI. “This is an excellent initiative for APP to introduce the first
LEI-certified paper worldwide, manufactured from LEI Sustainable Forest Management
(SFM) certified pulpwood plantation. This signifies our efforts in further promoting
Indonesian products certified under a transparent and multi-stakeholder based certification
scheme.”
Agung Prasetyo added that, LEI-CoC trademark has entered Japan, EU, and USA market
through LEI-CoC certified wooden furniture. Today more than 1.5 million hectares
of forest in Indonesia is certified under LEI program, consisting of natural production
forest, plantation forest, indigenous people forest, and community-based forest.
The certification process, which covers APP’s entire product range from pulp and
tissue to various kinds of converted paper products, was conducted by TUV International
Indonesia from April until July 2009. TUV International Indonesia is a part of German-based
TUV Rheinland
1 The pulp and paper mills certified are: PT Indah
Kiat Pulp & Paper Tbk (Certificate Register No. 824 301 09001), PT Lontar Papyrus
Pulp & Paper Industry (Certificate Register No. 824 301 09002), PT Pindo Deli
Pulp and Paper Mills Karawang and Perawang Mills (Certificate Register No. 824 301
09004) and PT Pabrik Kertas Tijwi Kimia Tbk (Certificate Register No. 824 301 09003).
2 LEI Standard 5001 and guidelines, which include LEI 88 Guideline (Chain of Custody
System Certification), LEI 88-02 (General requirement for field assessor for CoC
Certification), LEI 88-24 (Guideline for Decision Making Process by Expert Panel),
Manual LEI 22-02 (LEI logo usage rules) and LEI Board of Trustee Decree Number 07/LEI/MPA/V/2009
(Amendment of Board of Trustee Number 01/MPA-LEI/VII/2007).
Group and an LEI accredited certification body. As a leading provider of environmental
and social assessment worldwide, TUV operates in over 400 locations around the globe
and promotes sustainable forest management.
APP’s mills were accredited following a four stage certification program according
to LEI’s protocol. As a start, a pre-assessment process was conducted by an LEI
expert panel3 from April 13th – 21st. On April 22nd, TUV International Indonesia
placed a public announcement in a national newspaper to invite input from various
stakeholders regarding the ongoing certification process. The main assessment was
conducted at various APP production facilities in Sumatra and Java islands from
May 7th -20th. All APP production facilities were declared to pass the audit during
the decision-making process which was held on July 21st – 24th 2009.
“We were impressed by how hard APP staff worked. They are clearly very dedicated
to ensuring all measurement and critical control points are in place for the clean
production of LEIcertified products. This is not an easy task,” stated Prof. Ir.
T.A. Prayitno, M.For, PhD, a member of the LEI certification process expert witness
panel.
Aida Greenbury, APP’s Director of Sustainability & Stakeholder Engagement added,
“LEI principles are designed to meet the needs and sustainability concerns of Indonesia
in line with national laws and regulations. As such, we are very proud to have achieved
LEI CoC certification as it demonstrates our commitment to responsible development
of Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry. We are constantly working to improve the
sustainability of our operations.”
In addition to these new LEI CoC certifications, APP's pulpwood supplier, PT Wirakarya
Sakti, represents the largest LEI certified plantation in Indonesia. Currently LEI
is the only SFM certification program applicable for pulpwood plantation industry
in Indonesia. Prior to LEI certification, APP’s mills have been certified under
various international certification schemes, including Indonesian Ecolabel, European
Ecolabel, Japan Ecolabel and PEFC.
On commercial plans for the sale of LEI certified paper, Ms Greenbury added, “APP
is planning to market its LEI certified paper globally, starting with Asia. The
Asian market is particularly aware of and welcoming to the LEI certification.”
APP is planning to start production of LEI certified paper in the fourth quarter
of 2009.
About LEI
The Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute (LEI) is a constituent-based organization
promoting sustainable forest management using certification standard to bridge social
and environmental needs to meet market needs. As a constituent-based organization,
LEI holds mandate from its four chambers of constituent, namely indigenous people
and community forest chamber,
3 The expert panel consisted of Prof. Ir. T .A.
Prayitno, M. For PhD – an expert on wood science technology and CoC, Dr. Ir. Sri
Nugroho Marsoem, M. Agr. Sc – a pulp and paper specialist, Ir. Sugijanto Soewadi
– an expert on sustainable forest management and CoC and Ir. Hasbie Hasbillah –
an expert on production and environmental management for sustainable development.
business chamber, NGO chamber, and eminent persons’ chamber. In 2000, LEI became
an accreditation body and a Chain of Custody certification system was adopted. Certification
for community-based forest management and plantation forest was adopted in 2002
and 2003 respectively; while LEI’s phased approach to sustainable forest management
certification was being developed and was finally launched in 2007. Currently LEI
is developing certification system for non-timber forest products, and to be followed
by the development of sustainable forest certification for carbon sequestration
and marine products in 2010.
About APP
APP is one of the world's leading pulp and paper companies and is ranked one of
the largest vertically integrated pulp & paper producer in Asia. Its combined
pulp, paper and packaging capacities in Indonesia amount to over 7 million tones.APP
currently has its principal operations located in Indonesia, and markets its products
to more than 65 countries on six continents.
For more information please contact:
1. The Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute (LEI)
Mr. Agung Prasetyo – Executive Director of the Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute
Email address: agungprasetyo@lei.or.id
2. TUV International Indonesia
Mr. Cecep Saepulloh – Deputy General Manager Industrial Services
Email address: saepullah@idn.tuv.com
APP certificates are registered at www.tuv.com
3. APP Indonesia
Ms. Aida Greenbury – Director of Sustainability & Stakeholder Engagement
Email address: environment@app.co.id