FedEx Office, Office Depot Get Top Grades for Paper Practices

August 27, 2009

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Office retail stores FedEx Office and Office Depot earned top grades in the latest Green Grades office supply report card that ranks retailers and wholesalers/distributors on their paper practices. However, wholesaler/distributor companies PaperlinX and Xpedx and retailers Amazon.com and Costco received the worst grades in the report.

Conducted by environmental groups ForestEthics and Dogwood Alliance, the third annual report card aims to inform large business purchasers of office supply products about which companies’ paper practices protect the environment and the world’s forests. The companies are ranked on several factors including chain of custody, endangered forests, plantations and controversial sources, responsible forestry & FSC certification, and recycling and reduction.

While FedEx Office and Office Depot received impressive “green” grades across the board, companies like PaperlinX, Xpedx, Costco and Amazon.com came up short on critical environmental factors, earning nearly all “F” grades in each of the report card’s six categories, according to the report. Click here for the report.

The report finds that more companies are moving toward Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper, and away from forest sources certified by the industry-driven Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certification scheme. It also indicates that several companies have made efforts to avoid paper sourced from a caribou habitat in the Canadian Boreal Forest, including forests logged by Abitibi-Bowater.

This year’s report card also includes a “greenwash” section that specifically calls out Xpedx and PaperlinX for boasting about their sustainability positions that are not based on facts, according to the report.

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