The firm, one of the world's largest paper companies, has also earned Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). The badges prove that Xerox paper products have been manufactured using raw materials harvested from certified, controlled wood or post-consumer reclaimed sources.

Steve Simpson, vice president and general manager of Xerox Paper and Supplies Business Unit, said there was increasing demand from customers that want to make sustainable purchasing decisions.

"Xerox sees sustainability as not only a value we talk about, but as a real behaviour we strive to practise," Simpson said.

"FSC and PEFC certification are important steps in our effort to ensure that the production of paper is not a drain on our natural resources and that we use these resources wisely and efficiently."

Xerox will launch its first FSC- and PEFC-certified products in early 2008.

The FSC certification, provided by the Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood programme, will allow Xerox to buy and sell FSC-certified paper at 77 distribution centres in Europe, the US and Canada.

Tensie Whelan, executive director of the Rainforest Alliance, said: "The scale of Xerox's commitment to FSC certification shows how large corporations are making serious commitments to greening their supply chains."

Thousands of pulp providers, mills, merchants and printers have earned FSC Chain-of-Custody certification, and publishers, such as Simon & Schuster, have committed to increasing their use of FSC-certified paper.

Also in the past year, Nordstrom, Williams-Sonoma, and Limited Brands (the parent company of Victoria's Secret) all began using FSC-certified paper in their catalogues and other printed materials.

The area of FSC-certified forestlands has nearly doubled in the past three years to a total of more than 90m hectares.