Thursday, 01 January 2004
The Home Depot and Tembec Team Up
On December 3rd, The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, and Tembec, one of the largest softwood lumber producers in Canada, announced that they reached an agreement allowing The Home Depot to offer its customers larger amounts of FSC-certified Spruce Pine Fir (SPF) lumber.
In 1999, The Home Depot issued its wood purchasing policy giving preferential treatment to those suppliers that offer certified wood products. “Today we sell more FSC-certified wood than anyone in North America,” said Merchandising Vice President Ron Jarvis. “Tembec’s commitment to sustainable forestry and this endorsement by the FSC creates a strong partnership and solidifies our commitment.”
For Jim Lopez, President of the Tembec Forest Products Group, the agreement reached with The Home Depot will strengthen the two companies’ business relationship and enhance the market penetration of FSC-certified products. “Tembec and The Home Depot are both committed to good forest management practices and FSC certification,” says Lopez.
“Today, over 25% of Tembec’s Canadian forest operations are FSC-certified. By 2005, we intend to obtain certification for all 32 million acres of Canadian forest under our management. In doing so, the company is going beyond regulatory requirements and making a significant contribution towards protected spaces and the advancement of forest management practices.”
Jim McCarthy, Executive Director of the Forest Stewardship Council Canada, stated: “The agreement between The Home Depot and Tembec is a major step in the right direction. North American consumers are more and more concerned about environmental issues. They are increasingly making environmentally friendly choices to minimize their environmental footprint. FSC is committed to assisting manufacturers and retailers in any way we can to get them to join in and commit themselves as Tembec and The Home Depot did. In the end, we all win with this kind of commitment.”
“With encouragement from WWF, companies like The Home Depot and Tembec are leading the way in demonstrating that responsible forest management and good business can be compatible,” said Bruce Cabarle, Director of the WWF-US forest program. “By choosing the FSC-certified Tembec products for sale at The Home Depot, it is increasingly easy for shoppers to influence how forests are managed.”
Founded in 1978, The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer and the second-largest retailer in the United States, with sales of US$58.2 billion in fiscal 2002. The Home Depot has been a member of FSC since 1995.
Tembec is an integrated Canadian forest products company principally involved in the production of wood products, market pulp and papers. The company has sales of approximately C$4 billion, with over 55 manufacturing sites across Canadian, France, the United States and Chile. Tembec currently holds several chain-of-custody certificates, and one forest management certificate, granted by SmartWood, for the nearly 5 million-acre Gorden Cosens forest in Ontario, Canada. Tembec has been a member of FSC since 2001.