Rengo Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Kita-ku, Osaka; Chairman, President & CEO: Kiyoshi Otsubo) announces that all of its corrugated plants, folding carton plants, as well as its paperboard mills have acquired Forest Stewardship Council^® (FSC) Certification.

FSC certification is a well-known international system for certifying both appropriately managed forests and the appropriate processing and distribution of lumber harvested from these forests. Rengo's corrugated board is 100 percent recyclable environmentally friendly packaging material; FSC Certification provides third-party recognition that Rengo's corrugated packaging also contributes to the conservation of sustainable forest resources.

Demand for products with environmental credentials is expected to increase: not only is environmental awareness growing globally, but it is also expected that all products used in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will be required to conform to forestry certifications such as FSC.

FSC on-product labels can only be displayed on products for which every one of the corporations involved in production, processing and distribution management have acquired FSC certification. In order to provide a stable supply of certified corrugated boxes, both the corrugated plants which process containerboard into corrugated boxes, as well as the paperboard mills which produce the containerboard, must be certified. Since Rengo is an integrated producer of paperboard and corrugated packaging and has acquired FSC certification for both plant and mill, it is possible for the company to acquire FSC certification for almost every type of corrugated packaging that uses containerboard produced at Rengo mills.

Rengo has also acquired FSC certification for its boxboard, which is used in folding cartons mainly for foodstuffs and daily goods, and its chipboard. Going forward, the company aims to use fewer resources to create packages with even greater value based on its principle of “Less is more.”, and intends to actively contribute both to the reduction of its environmental impact and to the creation of a sustainable society.

*About the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC)
The Forest Stewardship Council® is one of a number of international organizations which implement a forest certification system. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Germany, the council was established amidst growing global awareness of green purchasing and deforestation.