GREENSBORO, N.C.—Columbia Forest Products was named a 2010 Corporate Sustainable Standard-Setter by the Rainforest Alliance at the organization’s gala dinner and awards ceremony on May 12 in New York City. The honor recognizes companies that have worked with the Rainforest Alliance and exhibited outstanding leadership in efforts to promote sustainability.
“Columbia Forest Products is one of those companies that truly understands the principles of sustainability, integrating them into the core of its business practices,” said Tensie Whelan, president of the Rainforest Alliance. “We consider the company to be a leader in its field.”
Columbia is one of North America’s leading producers of decorative veneer and hardwood plywood—an essential building block of cabinetry, furniture and millwork. The company is employee-owned and headquartered in Greensboro, N.C.
Columbia has built a more than 50-year record of responsible forestry practices, crowned by its relationship with the Rainforest Alliance’s SmartWood certification program which began over a decade ago. Today, they manage a distributor channel with more than 100 locations offering FSC-Certified hardwood plywood to local and regional woodworking businesses.
Sustainable Forest Management
Columbia’s efforts reach back into the woods as well—where its team of foresters works with private landowners—often writing forest management plans that ensure the long-term sustainability of their timber assets while enabling them to harvest defined amounts over time.
The company has also been recognized for the way they produce their hardwood plywood. In 2007, they received the Environmental Protection Agency’s Presidential Green Chemistry Award for the soy-based PureBond formaldehyde-free technology they use to bond their plywood together.
Formaldehyde has come under intense scrutiny by the architectural community, state and federal regulators, and the general public as a Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) that contributes to poor indoor air quality.
The company has produced and shipped more than 35 million PureBond plywood panels since they converted their seven mills away from the industry’s traditional urea formaldehyde resin systems in favor of the proven, cost-neutral PureBond alternative.
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