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Rona to cut out unsustainable wood and squelch sales of cosmetic pesticides
November 24, 2008 By The Canadian Press
Nov. 24, 2008 – RONA is changing its lumber buying policies in an effort to conserve the boreal forest and will stop selling pesticides for cosmetic purposes.
RONA is changing its lumber buying policies in an effort to conserve the
boreal forest and will stop selling pesticides for cosmetic purposes.
The Montreal-based company announced Friday that it is moving to do business only with suppliers that do not contribute to deforestation and proactively address environmental sustainability.
By the end of 2009 it aims to sell plywood panels only from forests certified as sustainable.
The policy will apply a year later to commodity spruce, pine and fir lumber.
All suppliers will be required to prove where their wood comes from by 2011.
By 2012, Rona wants 25 per cent of its wood sales to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, up from two per cent now.
Meanwhile, the removal of cosmetic pesticides by next July will cost the company $20 million in annual sales, out of its national total exceeding $6.3 billion at nearly 700 stores.
"Rona wants to play a major role in wilderness conservation as well as in the sustainability of natural resources, while supporting Canadian consumers in their efforts to adopt sustainable behaviours," stated CEO Robert Dutton.
"Product selection is a key component by which Rona can exercise such leadership and demonstrate its desire to protect the environment and human rights."
Greenpeace Canada hailed Rona's move as "the strongest procurement policy for wood products in North America that we've seen."
Richard Brooks, head of the environmental group's forest campaign, described the retailer's timetable as realistic, and said the policy "will lead to change on the ground and better protection for the most ecologically important areas of Canada's forests."
While giving preference to the Forest Stewardship Council, Rona will also recognize two other certifications: the Forest Products marking program and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
More than 1.25 million square kilometres are certified under the three standards, 19 per cent by the Forest Stewardship Council.
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