We are committed to working with our suppliers on a continual improvement basis to ensure that our policies related to paper use promote sustainable management of natural resources. By taking an active role in how we procure paper, we can have a positive impact on resource use and forest management. We will give preference to suppliers who share these commitments to environmental stewardship, and in particular those who source from the United States.
L.L.Bean will source all paper from responsibly managed forests. To verify that best practices are employed, we seek third-party certification. We recognize that there are multiple certification systems in place and not all certifications are right for all situations. We give preference to fiber certified under Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards when feasible, based on market conditions. More broadly, we look for forest management standards that are based on continuous improvement.
- Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
- Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)
- Canadian Standards Association (CSA)
- Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC)
- American Tree Farm System (ATFS)
- Master Logger Programs (MLP)
Our goal is to have 90% of the fiber in our catalogs either be certified under one of the certification systems shown above or be recycled fiber.
Paper Suppliers To:
- Identify all sources of fiber that make up our paper
- Specify the percentages of fiber from each type of certification system
- Set annual targets for increasing the amount of certified fiber
- Report on progress toward fiber goals during the year
All the fiber used in paper for L.L.Bean catalogs is sourced through a third-party certified, chain of custody system.
Fiber Will Not Come From:
- Forest areas where traditional or civil rights are violated
- Uncertified forests with threatened high conservation values
- Genetically modified (GM) trees
- Forest areas which have been illegally harvested
- Natural forests cleared for plantation or other use
Within our home state of Maine, L.L.Bean promotes forest certification to help protect the long-term health of Maine’s forests. We support the Maine Forest Certification Initiative, the nation’s first state-led forest certification effort, with a goal of increasing the amount of certified fiber available within the state.
We will work collaboratively with others in the industry to ensure continuous improvement. We will support research and development to continually improve sustainable forest management.
L.L.Bean is committed to minimizing the use of catalog paper.
- A commitment to the use of #5 groundwood paper stock that is over 30% more efficient in its fiber consumption than #3 free-sheet papers
- Ongoing testing of lower basis weight papers to determine their suitability in our catalogs
- The use of rotogravure printing, which generates less process paper waste and incorporates higher trim efficiency than other forms of printing
- Significant investment in catalog selection software that allows us to better target our mailings to customers
- The development and promotion of our Web site to increase migration to online shopping
- The effective management of the circulation of our catalogs, including an opt-in/opt-out capability
- Keeping our customer file exceptionally "clean" by industry standards through ongoing investments in software and regular file hygiene maintenance, thus reducing duplicate mailings and undeliverable catalogs
- Ongoing efforts to reduce catalogs and catalog pages mailed to our customers
L.L.Bean will include post-consumer waste (PCW) recycled fiber in catalogs, office papers and packaging when it is available at an acceptable quality and cost.
- Catalogs: Transitioning all catalogs to 20% PCW
- Order forms: 100% recycled with minimum of 40% PCW
- Office paper: Minimum 30% PCW; currently at 100%
- Packaging: Minimum 30% PCW; currently at 100%
We will continue to actively work with our suppliers on testing and evaluating recycled paper products with a goal of increasing our PCW use over time. We will also continue to encourage our customers and our employees to recycle, and we will seek opportunities to communicate this commitment.
L.L.Bean will encourage our suppliers to follow sound environmental practices in catalog paper production and printing, and to seek opportunities to reduce pollution.
- We contractually require our printers and catalog paper suppliers to report to us annually on regulatory compliance, significant environmental issues and continual improvement initiatives.
- Our papers are Elemental Chlorine Free and we monitor and support our suppliers' use of enhanced bleaching processes.
- We encourage environmental best practice initiatives such as implementation of environmental management systems (i.e., ISO 14001, EPA's Performance Track Program).
In the spirit of continual improvement and communication, we will regularly communicate with our stakeholders including publicly posting our Paper Procurement Policy on our Web site and annually reviewing our progress in meeting the policy with the L.L.Bean Environmental Stewardship Committee. We will work collaboratively with stakeholder groups to find responsible solutions to environmental issues and incorporate them into our paper procurement policy, and we require our suppliers to confirm annually that they are in conformance with this policy.
