Staples, The US Office Retailer, Becomes 'Environmentally Correct'

The paper sector is an obvious a target for green activism, so this weekend’s breaking news that office supplies retailer Staples severed all ties with its Singaporean paper supplier because of environmental concerns shouldn’t be that surprising. But the events that led to Staples’ move are an eye opener; a Wall Street Street Journal reporter discovered that the company was going to use its Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo and tipped off the FSC about the environmental policies of APP.

APP’s paper producing methods incited environmental concerns first in 2004 when Greenpeace pointed out that it in part relies on natural rainforests for its production of paper. A hoist of US, Asian and European companies terminated their contracts with APP, one after the other in recent years. All cited environmental concerns as their reason. The giant retailer Office Depot Inc. is also in the list.

The WSJ reporter’s action resulted in the FSC’s objection to Staples’ use of its label. The certification is considered the world's most stringent, and ensures responsible management of the world’s forests at miller level. A Staples spokesman last weekend told the Wall Street Journal “We decided engagement was not possible anymore. We haven't seen any indication that APP has been making any positive strides [to protect the environment.]”. He added that staying in business with APP would come "at great peril to our brand."

It's obvious; Staples is concerned that its customers won’t be enamored with forest destructive paper production methods. APP has a policy of producing paper from newly planted forests but says that due to huge demand, it needs to cut trees from mature rainforests as well. This practice is, in the Wall Street’s Journal’s terms, ‘having an impact on big U.S. paper buyers’.

The big question now of course is whether APP, one of the world’s largest paper manufacturers, will stop its destruction. Its policy thus far has been to deny that it's doing anything wrong. The incentive is rather limited; Staples purchased only around 9% of its total paper supplies from APP and roughly 5% of this concerned paper. The WSJ didn’t manage to get a reply from APP immediately, but perhaps later this week, when Staples officially announces its decision, there will be more information.