Polyconcept North America (PCNA; asi/78897) is increasing its efforts to operate more sustainably.

The Top 40 promotional products supplier says its facilities in Pittsburgh and Miami are now certified through the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). PCNA’s Charlotte location already held FSC Chain-of-Custody certification, which traces FSC-certified products from forests through supply chains, verifying that FSC-certified material is identified or kept separate from noncertified material.

Founded in 1993, the Forest Stewardship Council is an international nonprofit organization that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests.

“The Forest Stewardship Council is the world’s most trusted organization for sustainable forest management,” said PCNA Chief Merchandising Officer Liz Haesler. “We’re doing our part to ensure that from the forest through processing, manufacturing and distribution, our FSC-certified products are being tracked and best practices are being followed. When our distributor partners buy our FSC-certified products, they can trust those products are from responsibly managed forests.”

PCNA offers more than 20 products that include FSC-certified material, with more to be introduced throughout 2022. Currently, PCNA has more than 200 of what executives described as eco-friendly and sustainable styles, with items ranging from bags and notebooks made from recycled material to organic cotton T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts.

Still, the company’s eco-conscious efforts don’t stop there.

Through a partnership with 1% For the Planet, 1% of all eco-product sales are donated to a pair of nonprofits: One Tree Planted, which works toward global reforestation, and Well Aware, which builds clean water systems in Africa. PCNA also has made a conscious shift in its operations, taking measures to reduce energy consumption, reduce waste on the production floor and increase recycling programs, executives said.

“Sustainability has become a key component of every business decision we make,” said Neil Ringel, CEO of Polyconcept, PCNA’s parent company.

Word on PCNA’s eco progress comes as efforts toward operating with greater sustainability grow in the promotional products industry.

4imprint (asi/197045), the third-largest promo distributor by revenue, recently announced it’s building a solar array to power its distribution center in Oshkosh, WI.

SwagCycle, which responsibly manages the lifecycle of branded merchandise to help recycle or repurpose unwanted promo products, shared last month that both its landfill divergence totals and charitable impact increased by more than 10 times over in 2021.

Last year, the third-largest promo supplier by revenue, S&S Activewear (asi/84358), announced that it had completed a two-year-long project that involved installing solar panels at its six U.S. facilities. Top 40 distributor Geiger (asi/202900) has earned recognition for its environmentally focused initiatives, which include having the largest business solar array in Maine; this powers the company’s headquarters.

With reported 2020 North American promo products revenue of $512.3 million, PCNA ranked fourth on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest suppliers in the industry.

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