what does this symbol mean?
A tree drawn with a check mark as its trunk

FSC logo

The Forest Stewardship Council’s label: the wood or paper in the product is traced to FSC-certified forests, recycled material or other controlled sources.

How to read it

The Forest Stewardship Council is a nonprofit membership organization that certifies over 200 million hectares of forest. Its chain-of-custody certification tracks certified material from the forest through processing and manufacture to the consumer, and only chain-of-custody certified businesses may put FSC trademarks on products.

Also searched as: Forest Stewardship Council, FSC certified.

Three labels

FSC 100% marks products made entirely of virgin material from FSC-certified forests. FSC MIX marks products made with a combination of FSC virgin fibre, recycled material and controlled virgin fibre, which has been checked as low risk for illegal logging and other unacceptable practices. FSC RECYCLED marks products made entirely of recycled fibre.

Recycled, verified

FSC points out that general “recycled” claims require no verification; its Recycled label means the wood or paper has been verified as genuinely recycled.

More certification marks

Sources

Last reviewed September 25, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research

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