SGS India, world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company post the successful completion of the assessment of Birla Cellulose’s Vilayut Unit in Gujarat, the FSC C-o-C certification was awarded recently. Vilayat is Birla Cellulose’s fourth fibre unit to get this certification.

Birla Cellulose’s other fibre units which have FSC C-o-C certification are Kharach Unit in Gujarat, PT Indo Bharat Rayon in Indonesia and Birla Jingwei Fibre Company in China. All the pulp units of Birla Cellulose are certified for one of these key certifications i.e. SFI, FSC C-o-C and PEFC and now four of the fibre units are FSC C-o-C certified.

The managing director of Grasim Industries Ltd, Dilip Gaur, said that FSC certification is an important step and in line with their Wood Sourcing Policy to procure raw material from certified sources.

They are also one of the first cellulose fibre producers to complete a Canopy Style audit conducted by Rainforest Alliance which confirms Birla Cellulose fibre supply chains are low risk for sourcing from ancient and endangered forests or other controversial sources. FSC C-o-C is another milestone in their sustainability journey.

According to internationally recognised sustainability criteria, Forestry mechanism is a mechanism using independent assurance that the forest is managed. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) are some of international systems for forest certifications. Chain of Custody (C-o-C) certification is a way of tracking wood-based raw materials from the forest to the consumer, at each stage in ownership.