CHILE – This past month of May, 24 wood industry SMEs of the regions of Biobio and Araucania in Chile were certified in Clean Production by the National Clean Production Council. 

This initiative received technical support from the Chilean Wood Corporation (CORMA), and from home improvement retailers Sodimac, Easy and Construmart.

The certified companies correspond to 22 SMEs in the region of Biobio and 2 of Araucania region. Together they generate more than 1,300 direct jobs and indirectly benefit other 6000 people, and represent a production quota of around 360 thousand cubic meters of sawn timber per year and 130 thousand of remanufactured wood.

The Clean Production Agreement (APL) is the result of two years of work, where the participating companies complied with improved standards of solid and liquid industrial waste treatment; energy efficiency, safety and occupational health and worker training.

For CORMA’s Regional Manager Emilio Uribe, this is an important step regarding the industry’s sustainability issues, “The Agreement raised the production standards of these 24 SMEs, by incorporating a system of documented and structured work. Clearly one of the main objectives of the forestry sector is to promote economic and productive development with the least possible impact on communities and the environment.”