SUSTAINABLY SOURCED

Our floors are sustainably sourced but what do labels like FSC™ stand for and what does it mean to you and your clients? Here we take a closer look at our environmental certifications.

Robert Walsh of Ted Todd reclaiming wood

CERTIFICATION

Ted Todd was the first wood flooring company in the UK to achieve full FSC™ chain-of-custody certification. This was back in 1997, long before sustainability was a mainstream issue. It was around this time that we started to use timber from newly-felled forest sources as we evolved from reclaiming, re-purposing and restoring salvaged timber, to supplying new engineered wood floors to the marketplace.

When we started making new wood floors it became increasingly important that the timber sources were guaranteed to be from sustainably managed forests. Over 20 years later, this core value has continued to help us to meet the increasing demand for eco-friendly wood floor options.

We’ll never charge extra for FSC™ or PEFC certification. It comes as standard with a Ted Todd floor, and always will.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

UNDERSTANDING FSC™ AND PEFC

So, what does FSC™ stand for and what does it mean to you and your clients.

FSC™ stands for The Forest Stewardship Council. This global organisation was founded in 1993 as deforestation became a global concern and FSC™ is now a trusted worldwide symbol.

The FSC™ certified wood scheme, at the forest level, sets out to guarantee that felled timber is sustainably sourced. This system allows timber to be tracked from the forests, through the sawmills, processing plants, transport routes, storage sheds to the final producers’ warehouses.

Nowadays “The Forest Stewardship Council’s mission is to promote environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically prosperous management of the world’s forests”.

How do they ensure this? Forests are inspected and certified against strict standards based on the FSC™’s 10 Principles of Forest Stewardship. These inspections are undertaken by independent organisations which are accredited by the FSC™, such as the Soil Association. Then, to be given FSC™ certification, a forest must be managed in an environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable way.

This is what makes the FSC™ system unique.

It ensures that a forest is well-managed for the protection of indigenous people and their rights, the conservation of an area’s natural ecosystems, and the felling trees. Forests that meet these strict standards are then given FSC™ certification and the timber harvested is allowed to carry the FSC™ label.

VISIT FSC WEBSITE

WHAT IS FSC™ CERTIFIED WOOD?

The Forest Stewardship Council logo on any ‘forest’ product is your assurance that the product is produced from FSC™ certified wood and is made with, or contains, forest-based materials from FSC™-certified forests or from reclaimed sources.

In the UK the FSC™ ‘tick tree’ logo can be found on anything from garden furniture, decking, sheds, tools, bird tables to brushes, wallpaper, furniture, toilet tissue and charcoal – in fact most things made from wood! You will find the logo on both the product and the packaging.

There are three types of FSC™ codes or label: 100% FSC™, FSC™ Mix or FSC™ Recycled. For transparency, we tell you which certification is applicable to every product in our portfolio. And when you see this logo, you can be confident that buying it won’t harm the world’s forests.

Click here for a full explanation of each FSC™ code.

View our FSC certificate

DID YOU KNOW

FSC™ and PEFC are schemes dedicated to promoting responsible management of forests. Together they cover 98% of the world’s forests!

oranutan-image-in-forest

HOW IS PEFC DIFFERENT?

PEFC, or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, is a leading global alliance of national forest certification systems.

As an international non-profit, non-governmental organisation they ‘care for forests globally and locally’ and ‘work to protect our forests by promoting sustainable forest management through certification’ carried out by independent third-party certification.

‘Forests play a critical role for the global environment, population and economy and the health of global ecosystems. Besides alleviating the effects of climate change and natural disasters, they represent some of the richest biological areas on Earth. They also provide food, renewable raw materials for many of our products, and livelihoods for millions of people. PEFC is a system committed to protecting this’.

However, unlike FSC™, PEFC is not a standards agency, but a mutual recognition scheme. It not only focuses on the ethical aspects of sustainable forest management but also the processing of timber, resulting in a larger emphasis on the supply chain.

View our PEFC Certificate

CHAIN OF CUSTODY

Sustainable, well managed forests can achieve FSC™ or PEFC certification if they comply with each scheme’s criteria.

These standards are verified by independent certifying bodies such as SGS, SCS and SAI Global amongst others. Wood emerging from the certified forests can then carry the appropriate logo, but what about when the timber starts the next part of its journey?

This is where the “Chain-of-Custody” certification comes in.

In addition to forest certification, the FSC™ and PEFC system includes a certified chain of custody that tracks wood materials and products through every stage along the supply chain; from its origins in the forest, to the end of its journey as a product for sale. This traceability is monitored right through the chain and is even added to the final invoice where you will find a code and logo, which confirms that the item you’re buying is genuinely sustainable.

Ted Todd’s chain-of-custody certification provides independently audited proof of that the timber we buy and use comes from sustainable sources and we track and trace every batch of timber and flooring through our factories, manufacturers and warehouse.

We are very proud to say that the majority of all Ted Todd new woods come from environmentally sustainable, certified sources that can be tracked by a chain of custody.

The small percentage of our products that aren’t independently certified come from logs and farm estates around the UK which includes wind fall trees or wood from felling as part of local environmental management forest management.

View our BM TRADA Certificate

WHY DO WE GO THE EXTRA MILE FOR FSC™ AND PEFC CERTIFICATION?

  • Sustainability has always been at the heart of Ted Todd so being part of these schemes allows us to meet our sustainability goals and provide assurance to our customers that their choices are responsibly sourced.
  • All of our new timber is independently certified by schemes like these, which allows more trees to grow to replace those felled – ensuring we continue to put sustainability and the environment first.
  • For the commercial market, this also helps you to meet building and environmental regulations in the construction industry.
  • FSC™ and PEFC are schemes dedicated to promoting responsible management of forests. Both organisations have systems in place to monitor the harvest, production, purchase, handling, and selling of any certified material.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OUR CUSTOMERS?

  • By offering more FSC™ and PEFC certified products than any other wood flooring company, you can be confident that by choosing a Ted Todd or Woodworks by Ted Todd floor you are making environmentally sound choices for your projects and building them sustainably.
  • An intrinsic part of Ted Todd’s DNA is to protect the environment. The statement “Circular Life” is key to our attitude towards reducing any adverse environmental effects we have by maximising the reuse and recycling of our timber raw material. This circular live cycle is then continued through our customers.

ONE MORE THING BEFORE YOU GO…

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUSTAINABILITY AND LEGALITY?

Sustainability and environmental certification should not be confused with timber-source legality covered by the UKTR (EU Timber Regulation scheme).

Just because a timber source is fully legal doesn’t imply that the source is environmentally sustainable or well-managed.

All companies in the UK must by law to comply with the EU legislation regarding the legality of timber sourced from outside the EU or EEA. But this is no substitute for sustainability.

For example, timber felled in a country to make way for a new airport road or railway line will be probably legally felled, but the source is not environmentally sustainable.

Environmentally conscious companies and consumers will always ensure that their timber-based products carry a respected certificate of sustainability – such as FSC™ or PEFC.

Such sustainability and certification systems don’t currently exist for the majority of other building materials, such as LVT or vinyl. So, unlike these man-made alternatives wood is not only renewable, recyclable, carbon-efficient, low-energy but if it is certified wood too it is the most sustainable option you can choose.