June 28, 2011 - Les Affaires - Aude Marie Marcoux

Metro Montreal becomes the first newspaper in North America to ensure it is printed on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Through its environmental policy developed in collaboration with the non-profit conservation organization Canopy, Metro agrees not to source paper with fibre from ancient and endangered forests.

FSC, the international system for forest certification and forest products, [http://www.fsccanada.org/francais.htm], and which has the support of WWF Canada, Greenpeace and the David Suzuki Foundation, ensures that wood or paper products is bought or sold from healthy forests and strong communities.

In addition to reducing its carbon footprint and support conservation initiatives such as the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement, the daily newspaper also intends to promote initiatives within the newspaper industry.

"As a publisher and consumer of paper, we have the power to change things. So we decided to use FSC, as well as reduce the size of our newspaper, to show leadership and to try to change the habits of the paper users in Quebec, "said Daniel Barbeau, Metro’s publisher.

"Our real interest is really to be passed to go beyond FSC and to put pressure on paper suppliers and governments as much as possible, to have paper with as much recycled content as possible," adds the publisher.

His efforts to use more ecological paper started four years ago when he was looking for paper with higher recycled content. "I was told four years ago by paper suppliers that there was no demand for recycled paper. I told them, "we are asking you." But there was no follow-up," tells Mr. Barbeau, who regrets the fact that currently, unless they source from southern Ontario, all that is available on the Quebec market is newspaper containing 40% recycled post-consumer.

"What we would like is to have paper made in Québec that contains 100% post-consumer recycled fibre. This may be a dream, but we say you can lead the way, try to have a leadership in this regard so that others follow. "

Josée Breton, a spokesman for Canopy in Quebec, said that other newspapers and magazines may contain fiber from FSC-certified paper, but the Montreal Metro is the first in North America to guarantee it, because it has been approved its chain of custody for FSC Canada.

"To say that it is FSC certified, it is necessary that the chain of custody is met, the source of supply to consumers, and thus to the newspaper," says Breton. "So when the player receives the Metro newspaper, he sees the logo and this ensures that the fibres used to make the paper comes from responsible sources."

The non-profit organization has developed environmental policies with more than 650 independent entities, and they are committed to improving their type of paper supply on one hand, and to support conservation initiatives and protection of the forest on the other.

"We hope that Metro will be a model for other newspapers who wish to improve their impact on the environment and forests," concludes Josée Breton.

Translated from French. Read article Les Affaires.