Press release – 24 August, 2011Greenpeace urges other APP customers to do the sameSydney, Thursday 25 August 2011
: Metcash, the owners of IGA supermarkets, have dropped toilet paper products from the notorious Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) following a four-week Greenpeace campaign.
On Tuesday 23 August, Metcash released a statement on their website announcing that the decision takes place with “immediate effect” and that Metcash will not trade with APP or its affiliates, including the Australian based Solaris, “until APP has implemented commitments to stop deforestation.”(1)
Greenpeace welcomed the decision from Metcash – APP’s largest customer in Australia – and called upon other businesses to follow their lead.
“APP paper products made from rainforest destruction are still being sold in other retail stores and used in hotels across Australia,” said Greenpeace Forests Campaigner, Reece Turner.
“Greenpeace is urging these companies to look behind APP’s greenwashing at the hard evidence of their destruction of Indonesia’s last remaining rainforests.”
Last month, Greenpeace released sad and shocking footage showing the slow death of a Sumatran tiger caught in a trap within an APP logging concession in Sumatra’s Riau province. The video footage also revealed that in the same APP concession, recent forest clearance had taken place in an area identified as tiger habitat.
“Australians deserve to know if they are wiping their bums with the habitats of critically endangered Sumatran tigers. Australian companies linked to APP should be looking to find alternative suppliers,” said Turner.
For interviews, images and more information, contact:
Greenpeace Communications Officer, Jessa Latona – 0488 208 465
1. Statement at:
http://www.metcash.com/our-responsibility/in-the-news