Trend of Certified Forest Products (CFPs) Market in Japanese Construction Industries

Japan grants the largest number of forest Chain of Custody (CoC) certification compared to Europe and North America. At present, major wood and paper industries constitute most of the certificate holders. The pattern of wood utilization by construction industry will strongly affects the future market of certified forest products (CFPs) in Japan. The study examines the current status and prospect of CFPs market in the Japanese construction industry. A questionnaire survey was distributed to 203 non-certified construction companies in Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi prefectures and to 39 CoC certified firms of Japan Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) and Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council (SGEC) certification bodies. Companies which have been certified had earlier established wood supply chain before obtained the certificates. Study revealed that certified companies emphasized more on environmental aspects when purchasing wood materials compared to non-certified ones. A total of 67% of non-certified companies purchased or intended to purchase environment-friendly wood products (EWP). Others were only interested in recycled wood products which are not fall under the CFPs categories. Most companies do not obtain CFPs because of insufficient knowledge about forest certification schemes. According to the decision tree analysis, companies which established earlier supply chain checking system have stronger decision over wood procurement, and therefore, have higher tendency to obtain certificates.