From Tree to Pencil

Faber-Castell is the pioneer in its field in matters of environment-friendly industrial production and securing a long-term source of timber was foremost in its corporate thoughts as far back as the mid-1980s! In Brazil, the company uses fast-growing softwood from its managed forests and maintains its own tree nurseries. Saplings are continually planted out to replace each row of trees felled: a sustainable ecological cycle. Around 300,000 young trees of the type Pinus caribaea are planted and raised each year on a total area of some 10,000 hectares (100 km²), thousands of miles from the endangered Amazon rainforests. After 20 to 23 years they are large enough to be harvested as environmentally compatible raw material for black-lead and colour pencils. Not just the materials used but also the development, production methods, and disposal of all kinds of waste are subjected to critical analysis. For example, Faber-Castell played a pioneering role in the use of environment-friendly water-based paint for coating its wooden-cased pencils.

Carbon-neutral production

Faber-Castell’s forests in Prata, Southeast Brazil, absorb 900,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂), according to a scientific study by TÜV-Rheinland® in 2012. The 10,000 hectare forestry project not only secures stocks of sustainable wood but also protects the environment through photosynthesis, which converts the CO₂ into biomass. The pine trees and forests in Prata, one third of which have been left untouched, therefore neutralise the climate-relevant carbon footprint Faber-Castell’s global production facilities. Large parts of the forests have become a habitat for rare species of animals and plants, which is particularly important. A respectful interaction with nature is key alongside sustainability.

Biodiversity

One third of the company’s own forests in Brazil are native environment preserved and the forests have become a biotope for rare animal and plant species. It is home to around 660 animal and plant species, such as white-eared puffbird. Of these, 50 species are elsewhere threatened with extinction.