PrintReleaf Communication & Claims Guidance
Last Updated: February, 2024
Claims Guidance
The purpose of this document is to provide clear guidance for authorized communications and claims with respect to your partnership with PrintReleaf.
When making an environmental claim or communicating about your partnership with PrintReleaf, it’s very important to be clear and truthful about what exactly you are claiming or communicating. By being clear and truthful, you are adding to the strength and integrity of the PrintReleaf Certification system by removing any confusion about what the PrintReleaf Certification system represents, warrants, and also what it does not.
Outlined below are authorized claims and communications guidance statements as well as statements which are unauthorized or impermissible by PrintReleaf to claim or communicate to your stakeholders.
Authorized Claims and Communications
PrintReleaf issues a future biomass credit for paper measured. We plant trees in forests certified to our standard that will eventually mature to the equivalent amount of paper measured in terms of future fiber created.
It is permissible to claim that by applying PrintReleaf Certification you are eventually achieving a ‘tree neutral’ impact or outcome.
It is permissible to claim that by applying PrintReleaf Certification you are eventually achieving a ‘tree positive’ or ‘net-positive’ impact or outcome, IF you are sourcing paper that has recycled content or has chain of certification, for example Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®), Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification™ (PEFC™), or Sustainable Forestry Initiative ® (SFI®).
It is permissible to claim that by subscribing to PrintReleaf or participating in the PrintReleaf program that your reforestation impact is contributing to the 1 trillion tree campaign for results accrued between 2021 and 2030.
Unauthorized Claims and Communications
While PrintReleaf plants trees and those trees are obviously sequestering carbon, we do not issue a carbon credit in connection with our biomass credit. Carbon credits are issued separately. That’s because in order to derive and claim a carbon credit from a forest, typically the forest must mature 8 years or more and be certified to a recognized standard (e.g., the Gold Standard, Verra, et al).
The majority of PrintReleaf’s forests are not yet 8 years old. Eventually the opportunity may exist to certify our forests to a recognized standard and derive carbon credits for market. Therefore, for now, it’s not permissible to make a claim that by applying PrintReleaf Certification you are achieving a ‘carbon neutral’ impact or outcome unless you are sourcing Verra certified carbon credits from PrintReleaf.
It’s also further impermissible to make a claim (or similar claim) you are achieving a ‘paper neutral’, ‘print neutral’ or ‘forest neutral’ impact or outcome.
There are a number of environmental attributes that factor into paper manufacturing, the print process, and forest management that are independent of PrintReleaf’s environmental delivery and value. Use of any of these terms may create or vague or incorrect perception of PrintReleaf’s actual value proposition.
If you have any questions about how to accurately make a claim or statement about communicating your application of PrintReleaf Certification or your partnership with our company, please error on the side of being accurate and contact us at support@printreleaf.com.
It is not permissible to claim your tree values prior to 2021 as contributing to the 1 trillion tree campaign. The 1 trillion tree campaign does not account for trees prior to 2021 nor after 2030.
For claims guidance regarding California AB 1305, click here ›