After receiving a lot of finger-wagging and tsk tsks from the public, supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice has officially pulled down all stocks sourced from Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP), a firm majorly linked to the ongoing haze-causing forest fires.
The move has also been prompted by the Singapore Environment Council’s temporary restriction on the use of the ‘Singapore Green Label’ certification for APP products. What that means is that APP products — including notebooks, notepads and toilet paper — are deemed not environmentally-friendly.
Singapore-based firm APP came under increasing pressure from both the government and the public in recent weeks for their pretty big role in the fires raging across Sumatra and Kalimantan right now. They were served a legal notice by the National Environment Agency to be transparent about information in regards to their subsidiaries here and in Indonesia last month.
In response, APP admitted that they were aware of forest fires occurring in their suppliers’ land in Indonesia, and are working hard to extinguish them while also thinking of long-term solutions.
On FairPrice’s end of things, they’ve been scrambling to ensure that their supermarket keep up to the Singapore Environment Council’s standards — they had been unable to officially declare compliance with using sustainable materials.
“We initiated meetings with the various parties concerned when the list of firms including APP, was named by the authorities as suspects for contributing to the haze,” says NTUC FairPrice CEO Seah Kian Peng. “As a fair business partner, we reserved taking action pending further information and investigation by the authorities.”
With the withdrawal of their APP-supplied housebrand products, including their Softpack Tissue 200s and their Gold 3 Ply Facial Tissue 140s, FairPrice can now assure their shoppers that all products in their chain are environmentally-friendly.
“Our decision to withdraw all APP products is a result of the temporary restriction of their Green Label certification,” added Seah. This reflects our conviction and commitment towards promoting and adopting sustainable practices, as we have done all these years.”
Photo: NTUC FairPrice Facebook page
