FSC corrugated boxes: how to order boxes that qualify

For a corrugated box to count as FSC in your report, the order it came from must carry an FSC claim on both the invoice and the delivery documents. That claim is set when you order. Ask for FSC at the quotation stage, write it on the purchase order, and check that the claim appears when the boxes arrive. Leave FSC off the order and the boxes cannot be reported as FSC, even when they come from a certified plant. Many buyers find this out at report time, holding invoices from a certified manufacturer and nothing they can claim.

The two FSC claims for corrugated boxes

Corrugated boxes from Auto Boxes can carry either of two FSC claims: FSC Mix or FSC Recycled. Your end customer usually decides which one is needed, so check before you order.

Why your box manufacturer needs a Chain of Custody certificate

Your FSC claim appears on the invoice from your box manufacturer, so that manufacturer must hold a Chain of Custody (CoC) certificate of its own. CoC certification applies to every company the material passes through, and each one has to keep certified material apart from non-certified material. The box manufacturer is the last link in that chain. If it buys paper from FSC forests but has no CoC, nobody can confirm that the certified paper was never swapped along the way, and its documents are of no use for your claim. Forest Management (FM) certification covers something else: the forests where trees are planted and harvested.

How to check an FSC certificate

Use the public FSC certificate database for every supplier that claims FSC.

1. Search the FSC code printed on the certificate.
2. Read the status. Only the database shows whether a certificate is still valid; a scanned copy or image cannot.
3. Compare the product types listed in the scope with what you are buying. A product outside the scope cannot carry an FSC claim, even when it comes from the same plant.

To check Auto Boxes, search the FSC code below.

• Certificate number: 0171784
• FSC code: SAI-COC-012565
• Claims: FSC Mix and FSC Recycled
• Scope: corrugated board and corrugated packaging

How to order FSC corrugated boxes

1. At quotation. Put FSC, and the claim type if your end customer has set one, in your first quotation request. Certified board has to be planned and set aside for each FSC order, which is why adding FSC to a quote prepared for standard boxes can change its price and delivery date.
2. On the purchase order. The claim on the invoice is generated from the purchase order data, so FSC has to be written on the PO itself. FSC traceability rules work from documents, and an agreement made by phone or in a chat leaves nothing for them to follow. One of the most common failures starts here: FSC is agreed with the sales team, the PO goes out without it, and the invoice arrives without the claim.
3. On delivery. Check both the invoice and the delivery documents for the FSC claim when the boxes arrive, because a lot without the claim on its documents is outside the certificate scope, whatever paper it was made from. If the claim is missing, tell the manufacturer straight away, within the accounting period in which the goods were invoiced.

If the FSC logo is to be printed on your boxes, add one more step to the schedule: the certification body has to approve the artwork each time the trademark goes on packaging, separately from your right to the claim.

What to give an auditor

An auditor checking your FSC packaging wants to establish two things: that the manufacturer is certified, and that the boxes you bought fall under that certificate. The invoices and delivery documents carrying the FSC claim answer the second question, and most sustainability auditors look at them first. For the first, provide a copy of the CoC certificate held by the box manufacturer, showing its FSC code, so the auditor can verify its status in the FSC database. That certificate says nothing about any particular shipment, so it cannot replace the invoices.

The most common way to lose the claim

Documents issued after shipment would break FSC traceability rules, so a late request for FSC paperwork cannot be met. This is the problem we see most often, and the only remedy is to put FSC on the quotation request and the purchase order from the start.

Planning your first FSC order

Take the date your next report is due and work back to the first order that has to carry the claim. That order needs FSC, with the claim type your end customer requires, from the quotation onward. If the same report asks for carbon data, FSC goes in only as evidence of fiber sourcing and traceability. Carbon figures need their own certification under a different standard, and a report that substitutes FSC for them can be rejected. For the standards and certifications Auto Boxes holds, see Why choose Auto Boxes.

Frequently asked questions

If our supplier is FSC certified, are all our boxes FSC?
Only the orders that carry an FSC claim on the invoice and delivery documents. The certificate itself states that holding it does not make every product FSC, so anything ordered without the claim counts as standard boxes, whichever supplier made it.

Are FSC boxes more expensive?
It varies from job to job with the materials and the order quantity. The clearest answer comes from quoting the same job with and without FSC and comparing the actual figures.

What do we send when our customer asks for the certificate?
A copy of the certificate with its FSC code, so your customer can check it in the FSC database, plus an invoice that carries the FSC claim.

Will switching suppliers mid-year leave a gap in reporting?
Only if the new supplier has no Chain of Custody certificate, or has one and does not put the claim on its documents. Check both points before you switch.