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Three of the world's largest beverage carton manufacturers have signed a unilateral agreement to improve forest governance and support sustainable forestry practices across the globe.

The voluntary initiative, signed on 5 July by Tetra Pak, SIG Combibloc and Elopak, commits the trio to achieving 100% traceability of all wood used in their carton manufacturing processes within the next 10 years.

Currently, only 75% of the two million tonnes of paperboard used each year to produce beverage cartons is from renewable, traceable forestry sources.

The firms, all members of the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE), together account for 80% of the global beverage carton market.

Other beverage carton manufacturers are being urged to sign up to the scheme. "We need a level playing field and fair competition," said Elopak's chief executive Niels Petter Wright. "An important part of responsible forest management is independently certified wood traceability."