What does FSC® mean to you?

When we made the decision to sell a range of wooden brushware that’s made from sustainable sources, we felt that the best way we could achieve this was by supplying products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC), which helps take care of forests and the people and wildlife who call them home.

These products include the likes of our wooden brooms and hand brushes, and to make it easier to identify which ones are certified look out for the FSC logo on the product webpages.

To learn more about FSC and why should you only sell FSC certified wooden products please watch What wood you choose?

What is FSC?
FSC stands for 'Forest Stewardship Council'. They are an international non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting responsible forestry. FSC certifies forests all over the world to ensure they meet the highest environmental and social standards.

Products made with wood from FSC forests means you can be confident that buying them won’t harm the world’s forests.

 
How does the FSC system work?
Forests are inspected and certified against strict standards based on FSC’s 10 Principles of Forest Stewardship. These inspections are undertaken by independent organisations, such as the Soil Association, that are accredited by the FSC. In order to be given FSC certification a forest must be managed in an environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable manner.

This is what makes the FSC system unique and ensures that a forest is well-managed from the protection of indigenous people’s rights to the methods of felling trees. Forests that meet these strict standards are given FSC certification and the timber allowed to carry the FSC label.

How can I be sure that the product really does come from an FSC well-managed forest?
In addition to forest certification, the FSC system includes a certified chain of custody that tracks the timber through every stage in the supply chain from the forest to the final user.

You can check on the FSC website that Robert Scott is an approved supplier using our company name in the search page.

What does the FSC label mean?
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo on a wood or wood-based product is your assurance that it is made with, or contains, wood that comes from FSC certified forests or from post-consumer waste.

There are three types of FSC label: 100%, FSC Mix or FSC Recycled. Please click here to find out what each of these mean.

Which products carry the label?
In the UK, the FSC label can be found on garden furniture, decking, sheds, conservatories, tools, bird boxes and bird tables, kitchen, bathroom and general housewares, brushes, wall paper, flooring, doors, shelves, furniture, toilet tissue, paper, pencils, charcoal - in fact most things made from wood! The label can also be found on non-timber forest products such as natural latex, cork and bamboo.

For Robert Scott products, this includes our wooden range of brushware including brooms and hand brushes.

How does FSC differ from other forest certification schemes?
There are a number of other forest certification schemes around but they do not have the same strict environmental, social and economic standards or such a rigorous chain of custody; tracking timber from the forest to the final user.

FSC is therefore the only forest certification scheme endorsed by the major environment charities including WWF, Greenpeace and the Woodland Trust. You can see a more detailed analysis of how FSC compares with other forest certification schemes here.

Do FSC certified products cost more?
Like all products it depends on the availability but on the whole familiar items will be roughly the same price as non-FSC items.