Best Buy to shift some business away from Resolute

Resolute Forest Products may be losing some of its business with Best Buy.

The American-based electronics retailer announced Tuesday that it's looking at potential new paper suppliers.

Best Buy said it's going to require companies including Resolute to provide paper from operations certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. It said it intends to increase the number of vendors it relies on, and will "meaningfully shift business" away from Resolute, its current primary supplier.

“Our intention is to conduct business with companies that support sustainable forestry practices including those in the Canadian Boreal Forest,” according to a Best Buy statement. 

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The announcement comes barely two weeks after Greenpeace put out a report citing Best Buy as one of the worst offenders for using unsustainable paper products.

Greenpeace said in a news release last month that Best Buy was using over 100 million pounds of paper to produce its flyers, from one of the world's last remaining ancient forests.

In a news release Tuesday, Greenpeace stated that "FSC certification provides a guarantee to the public that forests are being responsibly managed, First Nations rights are respected and biodiversity is conserved." 

Greenpeace spokesperson Shane Moffatt welcomed the Best Buy announcement.

“Well certainly our supporters — and Best Buy's own customers — responded, you know, in big numbers,” he said. “Over 50,000 people joined us [in an online petition] in urging the company to take this issue seriously.”

Resolute vice-president Seth Kursman said it would be inappropriate to comment directly on Resolute's relationship with Best Buy or any other customer, but added that Greenpeace has had an impact with what he described as threats and intimidation directed at customers.

​“And when people are spreading malicious falsehoods and using inaccurate and deceptive practices, that has a real impact on people's lives,” he told CBC News.

The well-being of workers and communities in northern Ontario is being harmed, Kursman added.

Kursman noted Canada has among the most stringent regulations and laws governing forestry in the world.

He said any deforestation that's happening is due to things like the construction of parking lots and strip malls, "but that's not the kind of information you hear from Greenpeace," which he accused of painting an inaccurate and deceptive picture.

Below is a publication issued by Greenpeace as part of its campaign targeting Best Buy with a challenge to changes its procurement policy.