A decline in the total use of paper plus the loss of a Forest Stewardship Council supplier resulted in a decline in FSC-certified paper used by Scholastic in 2009, but the company said it remains committed to getting to the 30% FSC-certified level by 2012. In 2009, Scholastic bought 70,279.2 tons of paper of which 12,121 tons, or 17.25%, was FSC-certified, up from 3.6% in 2007, but down from 19.7% in 2008. Out of that, 13,920 tons, or 19.8%, was produced from recovered fiber, up from 13.5% in 2007, and of that amount, 11,078 tons, or 79.6%, was produced from PCW fiber, up from 80.7% in 2007.
In January 2008, the publisher announced its intention for 2012 to increase its purchase of FSC-certified paper for its publications to 30% and its use of recycled paper to 25%, of which 75% would be post-consumer waste. Tyson Miller, director of Green Press Initiative, said, “Scholastic continues to be at the forefront of environmental performance in this industry” and commended the company on “tackling the challenge of eliminating Endangered Forest fiber from the supply-chain and contributing greatly to industry innovation in many other areas.” Scholastic CFO and CAO Maureen O’Connell said, “We are well on our way to achieving the goal we aim for in 2012, and we anticipate that 2010 will bring us even closer to it.”
