How is
Accoya wood
sustainable?
Responsible sourcing and production
The way we source and produce Accoya FSC® wood is critical to its outstanding performance and sustainability.
As supply chains come under increasingly intense scrutiny for their negative impact on the environment and people, it’s becoming mission critical for anyone involved in built environment projects to adhere to high standards.
In use as a building material, Accoya FSC® certified timber has a minimal environmental impact throughout its lifecycle. From forestry and transport practices, through to the production process, our meticulous approach helps safeguard the future of the forests we source from and the health and wellbeing of society as a whole.
Responsible sourcing
Accoya works with nature, not against it.
The fast-growing trees used to create Accoya wood have been selected for several reasons:
- The species selected are high-yield allowing Accoya to meet rising demand without fuelling deforestation
- The forest sources we cultivate reduce the strain on tropical hardwoods, which are under pressure from illegal logging and quickly becoming a scarce commodity
- All our wood comes from areas considered low risk for human rights abuses, with the majority sourced from New Zealand. This helps ensure a fair supply chain for Accoya. Independent assessments and certifications also require that source countries have effective controls against illegal logging, a major cause of biodiversity loss and impacts on forest-dwelling communities around the world.
Sourcing sustainable FSC® certified wood is integral to our ethos of working with nature. Selecting our wood sources for their sustainability is the first step, but when it comes to the supply chain, the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC®) secures high standards from our partners.
From protecting local biodiversity and habitats, to ensuring people are fairly treated, responsibility through this phase is a key priority for Accoya and the FSC®.
In line with FSC® timber requirements, all actors in Accoya’s sustainable timber supply chain, starting with forestry managers, must adhere to robust standards. Forestry managers are bound by ten principles which prioritise:
- Maintaining or enhancing high conservation values so ecosystems can continue to thrive
- Upholding the rights, customs and culture of indigenous people as defined by the United Nations
- Implementing health and safety practices to protect workers from occupational health and safety hazards
The FSC® certified wood system helps establish a restorative and regenerative approach to land management in the timber supply chain. Allowing us to trace timber back to the forest it was grown in with a guarantee that ecological values have been maintained.
Responsible sourcing secures a sustainable growth for Accoya, enabling us to remain transparent, and thus contribute to building a better future for the next generation.
Responsible production
Being responsible is fundamental to Accoya wood – from the supply chain into the production process and beyond.
Offcuts are inevitable when manufacturing timber. We reclaim these offcuts from manufacturers and use them in the production of Accoya’s sister-brand, Tricoya®. This ensures that waste FSC® wood gains a new lease of life while carbon remains locked in.
Our continuous drive for efficiency is helping us improve our production impacts. In addition, we have invested in Renewable Energy Certificates and developed an approach to carbon offsetting, which is integrated with Accsys’ overarching strategy. These efforts have been crowned with Gold status for Renewable Energy & Carbon Management with the Cradle to Cradle® certification.
Accoya has also been awarded Cradle to Cradle® Water Stewardship Gold Standard for our efforts in safeguarding clean water. Water is used in production for cooling before it is safely returned into the local river system.
Where to Buy
You can buy Accoya and Accoya products from our selection of distributors or manufacturers in your region. Use our map search tool to find your nearest Accoya supplier.