Greenpeace and Asia Pulp & Paper have been battling for years over the issue of brands using APP for packaging, as the eco-activists believe the company is one of many brands contributing to the deforestation of “critical habitats and last remaining biodiversity hotspots” by using what it sees as unsustainable packaging materials sourced by APP. 

Greenpeace's latest campaign against APP, via its global KFC protests, prompted the paper supplier to send us a rebuttal from Ian Lifshitz, Sustainability Manager for APP in the Americas.

“APP has been taking into account the critical issues raised by our international stakeholders, and we’ve announced important milestones in our business policies. Namely, on May 15, we announced the suspension of natural forest clearance in Indonesia, and that we will begin holding ourselves and our suppliers to the internationally-recognized high standards of HCVF (high conservation value forest)."Continue reading...

Greenpeace activists recently scaled the headquarters of the KFC headquarters building in Louisville, Kentucky to hang a giant banner with a Sumatran tiger saying: “KFC Stop Trashing My Home.” A second banner was deployed on the lake the KFC building, dubbed “the White House” due to its resemblance to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, overlooks, bearing a similar message.

“We're here today to expose KFC's secret recipe. KFC customers worldwide will be horrified to learn that the fast food giant is using rainforests to make its packaging,” said Greenpeace Forest Campaign Director, Rolf Skar, about the protest action, which has gone global including a protest stunt in China and London this week. “The decisions being made here at KFC HQ are fuelling the destruction of some of the world’s last remaining rainforests, driving climate change and pushing the Sumatran tiger closer to extinction.”Continue reading...

Ikea is embarking on a massive environmental project this month, introducing corrugated cardboard pallets instead of wooden in a move intended to make its 10 million pallets used annually more sustainable and cost-efficient. The furniture retailer previously tested recycled polypropylene plastic loading ledges as an alternative to wooden pallets. As Bloomberg Businessweek notes, the company could also save an estimated $193 million per year by scrapping wooden pallets. [image via Core77]

Ikea outlines its commitment to using sustainble wood in a new video to support its recently released 2010 sustainability report on March 30th.

That report touted the introduction of a new sustainability product score card with 11 criteria and the fact that its use of certified wood (from forests certified as responsibly managed) increased from 16.2% to 23.6% last year.

Ikea has also worked with WWF (since 2002) and local forestry managers, including in China and Russia, to ensure it's using sustainably logged wood sources and to conserve forests.