Anderson Hardwood Floors First Company to Become Certified Under NWFA Responsible
Procurement Program
St. Louis, Missouri (November 9, 2009) – The National Wood Flooring Association
has announced that Anderson Hardwood Floors has become the first company to be certified
under the NWFA’s Responsible Procurement Program (RPP). Anderson began the audit
process in August. The audit was conducted by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS),
a leading third-party provider of certification, auditing and testing services.
SCS is an accredited certifier with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which
is recognized in the US as setting the highest standard of environmental and social
performance in the forest products industry.
The NWFA established the RPP to recognize wood flooring companies that work to sustain
our world’s forest. The program is supported by the Forest Stewardship Council-US
and the FSC Family Forests Alliance, which recognize the NWFA RPP as a valid incremental
approach toward socially and environmentally responsible forestry. The program is
transitional to higher levels of environmental responsibility based on three tiers
of increasing voluntary participation and associated certification. Anderson was
certified in both Tier One and in Tier Two of the program.
Tier One is the entry-level stage, and requires company commitment to key program
criteria:
- 1. Develop and adopt a Responsible Procurement Policy that conforms to RPP requirements.
- 2. Source domestic raw materials from forests that are identified as renewing by
the USDA Forest Service, and conform to FSC criteria for controlled wood.
- 3. Participate in RPP Chain of Custody Program, which traces wood to renewing forests.
- 4. Use the RPP “US Renewing Forests” logo in off-product materials and marketing
only for domestically sourced materials.
- 5. Provide independent verification for legal harvesting of raw materials sourced
outside the US, with Verified Legal Origin (VLO) audits required for sourcing from
countries where illegal logging is high risk.
- 6. Use the RPP “Legal” logo in off-product materials and marketing only for imported
materials.
- 7. Advance to Tier Two within three years.
Tier Two is the transitional-level stage, and requires company commitment to key
program criteria:
- 1. Obtain FSC Chain of Custody certification, requiring an annual on-site audit.
- 2. Source raw materials from FSC-certified forests and establish targets to increase
use of FSC-certified materials.
- 3. Join the FSC Procurement Group to help increase availability of FSC-certified
wood.
- 4. Meet FSC controlled wood standards within two years of entering Tier Two.
Tier three is the highest-level stage, and requires company commitment to key program
criteria:
-
1. Meet all Tier One and Tier Two requirements.
-
2. Achieve at least 50% sales in FSC-certified wood.
-
3. Meet FSC controlled wood standards for all non FSC-certified wood.
Mullican Flooring currently is undergoing its audit for NWFA RPP certification as well. Other companies that have begun the process
to become certified include Cikel America, Johnson Premium Hardwood Flooring, Mannington, and Mohawk.
For more information about the Responsible Procurement Program for Hardwood, contact the NWFA.
The National Wood Flooring Association is a non-profit trade organization, with more than 3,500 members world-wide, dedicated to
educating consumers, architects, designers, specifiers and builders in the uses and benefits of wood flooring. NWFA members
receive the best in educational training, benefits, technical resources and networking, to advance their professionalism and success.
The NWFA is located at 111 Chesterfield Industrial Boulevard, Chesterfield, MO 63005, and can be contacted at 1-800-422-4556, or
on-line at www.nwfa.org
Download the Anderson RPP Policy PDF
Download the PDF Version of this press release
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