xpedx Achieves PEFC Chain-of-custody Certification

CINCINNATI, OH—August 18, 2008—xpedx today announced it has achieved chain-of-custody certification from the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), the world’s largest independent, third-party certification system.

xpedx is now tri-certified to the PEFC, Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards.

xpedx, North America’s largest distributor of printing papers, offers the largest selection of environmentally preferable papers. The new PEFC certification brings xpedx customers more options to meet the increasing demand for chain-of-custody certified printing papers.

Graphics professionals and their customers are increasingly demanding papers manufactured with fibers sourced in an environmentally responsible manner. The addition of PEFC to the xpedx certification lineup helps the company fulfill that demand by providing a large and stable supply of these papers.

Chain of custody is the process of tracking and recording the possession and transfer of certified wood and fiber from the forest of origin, through the stages of production, to the end user. If any entity along this path is not third-party certified, the paper specifier, printer or print customer cannot claim the papers are certified and they cannot print the PEFC, SFI or FSC trademarks.

U.S. printers interested in becoming tri-certified in chain of custody can go to xpedx.com to download a Getting Started kit. Additionally, copies of the PEFC, SFI and FSC standards are available for download, as are usage guidelines for reproducing the standards’ trademarks.

About PEFC
PEFC is a framework for the assessment and endorsement of national forest certification systems that have been developed based on internationally recognized requirements for sustainable forest management. Since its launch in 1999, PEFC has become the largest forest certification umbrella organization covering national systems from all over the world, including the SFI standard which was endorsed in 2005. Through these national systems, PEFC delivers hundreds of millions of tons of wood to the processing industry and then onto the market place from currently more than 200 million hectares of certified forests. This is an area larger than the combined forest area of all European Union member states. PEFC has strong grass roots support from many stakeholders including the forestry sector, governments, trade associations, trade unions and non-governmental organizations.

About xpedx
Cincinnati, Ohio-based xpedx, a business of International Paper (NYSE: IP), is one of the largest business-to-business distribution companies in North America. xpedx distributes a wide variety of printing paper, graphics, packaging and janitorial-sanitary supplies and equipment from manufacturers worldwide. Customers include printers and publishers, manufacturers, retailers, governments and facility managers. xpedx also does business with the majority of Fortune 1000 companies.

xpedx has more than 265 locations across the U.S., Canada and Mexico and posted $7.3 billion in 2007 revenues. Other xpedx businesses include Tampa, Florida-based xpedx Supply Chain Services, a global provider of third-party logistics services; Cincinnati-based Saalfeld Redistribution; Kansas City, Kansas-based xpedx Printing Technologies, the exclusive U.S. distributor of Ryobi-branded offset printing presses; Cleveland, Ohio-based xpedx National Technology Center and publishing industry suppliers Bulkley Dunton Publishing Group and Strategic Paper Group.

xpedx operates a network of more than 150 retail paper and graphics stores, as well as a new retail e-commerce site at xpedxstores.com . xpedx is one of the largest providers of post-consumer waste content and recycled printing papers in North America and has chain-of-custody certification from FSC, SFI and PEFC at all of its U.S. and Canadian distribution centers. For more information about xpedx, visit xpedx.com