Sugar Cane Bagasse is Recycled Fiber

The Sugar Cane Paper Company (SCPC) uses recycled sugar cane bagasse to produce its paper and tableware products. Bagasse is the fibrous residue left over after the sugar cane has been crushed and the sugar extracted.

How can we call bagasse recycled fiber? The answer lies within the Forest Stewardship Council's definitions of recycled fiber raw materials. FSC is a non-governmental agency that certifies forests for sustainable usage. Their document, FSC Standard - FSC Chain of Custody Standard for Companies Supplying and Manufacturing FSC-Certified Products FSC-STD-40-004 (Version 1-0) EN, contains several definitions for reclaimed/recycled materials:

FSC	Other reclaimed material. Wood and or wood fiber that is reclaimed from a product, by-product or co-product during or after manufacture which cannot be re-used on-site in the same manufacturing process and which is reclaimed before the product reaches the end-consumer.
SCPC	In a pulp and paper mill, bagasse could be considered as other reclaimed material because bagasse is a by-product of the sugar industry and it is being used in a completely different industry - the pulp and paper industry - before the final product reaches the end-consumer.
FSC	Reclaimed wood / wood fiber material. Wood or wood fiber material that would have otherwise been disposed of as waste or used for energy recovery, but has instead been collected and reclaimed as a material input, in lieu of new primary material, for reuse, recycling, re-milling or manufacturing process. Sources of wood for reclamation may be pre-consumer (pre-industrial or post-industrial) or post-consumer. For the purposes of this standard reclaimed wood does not include non-industrial salvaged wood.
SCPC	Sugar cane bagasse is typically burned at the sugar mills for steam and power as well as a method of disposal. In a pulp and paper mill, bagasse could be considered as Reclaimed fiber material because it is used for pulp and paper production rather than for energy recovery.
FSC	Recycled material. Material that has been reprocessed from reclaimed material by means of a manufacturing process and incorporated into a final product.
SCPC	Since sugar cane bagasse can be classified as made from other reclaimed material and/or Reclaimed fiber material and the bagasse reclaimed material is converted into pulp used in paper and tableware production (i.e. incorporated in the final product), paper and tableware products containing bagasse pulp could be considered as containing Recycled material.
FSC	Recycled Fiber. Fiber which has been reclaimed from a previous product and reprocessed and incorporated into a new product. Sources of fiber for recycling may be reclaimed post-consumer, reclaimed pre-consumer or other reclaimed material.
SCPC	Since sugarcane bagasse could be considered as a pre-consumer other reclaimed material that is converted into pulp for use in paper and tableware production, the bagasse pulp component of the final paper product could be considered as Recycled fiber.
While we recognize that the FSC definitions were developed for wood and wood products, we believe that these definitions could equally apply to sugar cane bagasse and that sugar cane bagasse content paper and tableware can be classified as containing pre-consumer bagasse recycled fiber.