Post-It notes – available in any colour, as long as it's green

The company that makes the ubiquitous Post-It notes has stepped up efforts to ensure its products do not contribute to deforestation, having secured chain-of-custody certification from the US-based Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).

St-Paul based 3M announced last month that it has been awarded the certificate for all the Post-it Note and Post-it Easel products that the company ships in the US, after putting in place tracking systems that allow it to identify the amount of certified, uncertified and recycled content in the forest products it buys, uses or sells.

"SFI Chain-of-Custody Certification reinforces our environmental commitment with the ability to trace the fibre used to make Post-it products from forest source to final product," said Jack Truong, general manager of 3M's office supplies division. "This assures consumers that the paper used to make Post-it Note and Post-it Easel products is sourced from well-managed forests where trees are replanted."

The tracking system should make it easier for the firm to ensure fibre is sourced from the 160m acres of US forests that have been certified by SFI as using sustainable best practices that protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat.

SFI chief executive Kathy Abusow said that Post-It notes were part of a growing trend for sustainably certified paper products.

"Demand for products from well-managed forests is increasing worldwide, and with today’s announcement the Post-it brand joins a growing number of companies that are demonstrating their environmental commitment through certification to the SFI program," she said, adding that with just 10 per cent of the world's forests independently certified, the support of high-profile brands such as Post-it should help promote wider use of certified products.

In related news, a new report from printing giant Lexmark has estimated that US government employees spend $1.3bn a year on printing, more than $440m of which is wasted on unnecessary printouts.