When it comes to having a small footprint on the planet’s resources, what may seem trivial really adds up. As China industrializes it uses more of everything, and even the increased use of toilet paper is becoming a problem.
Wang Yueqin, vice-director of Shanghai Paper Trade Association said: “While I am happy to see many young people adopt paper tissue for its convenience, which is a sign to reflect our social development and has helped improve our industry to some part, I am beginning to worry about the large wood consumption. The 140,000 tons of tissues and toilet paper Shanghai uses every year consumes some 80,000 tons of wood pulp, equal to about 300,000 tons of wood.”
Wang said the Association has been advocating using paper more economically. “We are also trying to encourage the application of new materials and technology to save wood,” he said.
A factory in Jiangsu Province has invented technology to make toilet paper and tissue from straw, and another one in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region can produce tissue from the dregs of sugarcane, said Wang.
Wood pulp used to produce various kinds of paper has become the third largest product imported by China after petroleum and steel, he said. “In 2003, China imported some 6.03 million tons of wood pulp and consumed some 8.2 million tons.”
The World Wildlife Fund has approached SCA, Georgia – Pacific, Kimberly-Clark, Procter&Gamble and Metsa Tissue asking them to show leadership on transparency and environmental best practice. Greenpeace has launched its Kleercut campaign to pressure Kimberly-Clark to stop its assault on Canada’s Boreal Forest to make products like Kleenex.
China’s Impact
Because of its rapidly rising demand for wood, China is set to lead the world’s wood market – this will have devastating impacts on remaining forests unless major changes are made in the country’s policies, a recent World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report warns.
According to the report, “China’s Wood Market, Trade and the Environment” more than half the timber China imports comes from countries such as Russia, Malaysia and Indonesia, which are all struggling with problems such as over-harvesting, conversion of natural forests and illegal logging. China is one of the major destinations for wood that may be illegally harvested or traded, it says.
While the average Chinese citizen uses 17 times less wood than a person in the US, China’s wood imports have dramatically increased over the past ten years and will continue to do so to meet the demand of the country’s huge population and rapid economic growth.
After the 1998 devastating Yangtze River flooding, the Chinese government banned logging to protect its forests, resulting in a significant drop in China’s domestic wood production, and a concomitant increase in imports. China’s forests and plantations will provide less than half the country’s projected industrial wood demand by 2010, putting increasing pressure on the forests of the countries it imports from.
The WWF report calls on governments and the private sector to implement responsible procurement policies, use of systems to trace wood from its source to final use, forest certification, enforcement of government policies and regulations to prevent the import of products containing illegally-sourced wood, and cooperation with other nations to combat illegal trade of forest products.
Read the report.
Forest Dialogue in China on Illegal Logging
In early March, over 120 forest products company representatives, government officials and conservationists gathered in China to coordinate actions to halt illegal logging. Major companies from Europe, North America, Africa and Asia participated, as did officials from the European Commission, China, the United States, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines and the World Bank.
The meeting was convened by The Forests Dialogue, an international coalition of private landowners, forest products companies, conservationists, retailers, foreign assistance organizations, unions, and academia.
As much as 30% percent of the hardwood lumber and plywood, and 17% of round wood traded globally could be of suspicious origin.
“Forest products companies, manufacturers, governments, and consumers are all part of the wood supply chain,” said Weiguang Lu, Chairman of Shanghai An Xin Flooring Company Ltd., one of the largest solid wood flooring companies in China. “We all must work together to eliminate illegal logging. Government policies alone cannot stop illegal logging. Businesses also must embrace responsible purchasing.”
“As a responsible nation, China would like to cooperate with other countries to eradicate illegal logging and illegal trade”, said Su Ming, Deputy Director General, International Forestry Cooperation Center, State Forestry Administration, P. R. China.
“Illegally cut wood depresses the price of forest products on the global market by an average of 7-16% and presents unfair competition to those companies that respect the law,” said Cassie Phillips, Vice President of Sustainable Forestry at Weyerhaeuser Company and Co-chair of the dialogue.
An outcome of the meeting in early March was the launch of the China Forest and Trade Network (FTN). Its goal is to facilitate market links between companies committed to responsible forestry and the purchase of forest products. The focus will be on companies with significant forestry and/or wood processing capacity and companies that are using wood from threatened forests around the world.
The Forests Dialogue: [sorry this link is no longer available]
China Certifies Forests
China’s decision to certify two state-owned forests marks a significant step towards responsible forest management. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification of forests in China’s Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces totalling an area of 420,000 hectares were supported by WWF China, IKEA and the German Investment and Development Company (DEG).
“By working with government agencies, the forestry industry, NGOs and the media, Chinese businesses are now becoming increasingly aware of the importance of responsible forest management”, said Dr Zhu Chunquan, WWF China’s Forest Programme Director. The Youhao Forestry Bureau is a furniture supplier of IKEA, while the Baihe Forestry Bureau exports a large volume of wooden flooring and doors to Japan, the US and Europe. Over 90 companies now have Chain of Custody (CoC) certification
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