Sustainability Report 2019

At Sappi North America, we recognize that strong, sustainable companies don't merely manage against quarterly financial targets — they invest in the people they employ, they make commitments to protect the planet from the wasteful use of natural resources, and they have a clear vision for achieving profitable growth and prosperity for current and future generations.

Since the release of our first Sustainability Report in 2008, we have consistently demonstrated a commitment to transparency, innovation and doing good - environmentally, socially and economically.

The three pillars of sustainability – People, Planet and Prosperity – remain core to our operations. We are committed to helping all our partners across the supply chain understand the true footprint of our business so that they can trust that when they do business with us, they are doing business with a leader in the industry.

In 2019, we lowered injury frequency and severity ratings to record-low levels for the second consecutive year; rolled out an employee recognition program to celebrate the 2,700 acts of excellence from Sappi employees throughout the year; and continued to advance the vibrancy and health of communities through educational and training resources for our employees, and our Ideas That Matter grants. We’re proud of the leaps and bounds we’ve made in safety, sustainability, and community engagement, and we will continue to aim even higher in 2020.

This past year was full of new advancements, including our Somerset Mill in Maine  becoming certified to the ISO 22000:2018 Food Safety Management System (FSMS) standard, a new addition to our paperboard packaging line, and the acquisition of a new pulp mill in Quebec, Canada. We believe that investing in our employees and communities makes us stronger, with all of our mills successfully upholding Sappi’s environmental sustainability standards and building a strong path toward solving the challenges of the future.

Highlights of our 2019 Sustainability Report include:

• Excellent industrial safety performance with a Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate of 0.25 for the year—the second consecutive year that we have achieved the lowest result in Sappi North America’s history.

• Commitment to renewable energy resources, generating 73.6 percent of our power from renewable resources like woody biomass, after taking into account Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) sales, 80.8% of our power was generated by renewable resources

• 100% of our wood and pulp is sourced in conformance with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI) Fiber Standard and 56% is third-party certified under either SFI®, FSC®, PEFC™ or as part of a Point of Harvest program.  

• Strong and innovative waste reduction initiatives, including reuse of byproducts to avoid landfill. With respect to pulp mill losses alone we surpassed our five-year goal, reducing waste by 24.6% over the 2014 baseline.

We have our eye to the future, not only for the evolution of our business and products, but the impact that we will continue to have on our environment. We strive to find sustainable solutions to everything that we do, and we thank you, our stakeholders, for helping us along the way.

To learn more, download a PDF of Sappi North America’s 2019 Sustainability Report here.