Sustainability Report 2017

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 the company’s first Sustainability Report in 2008, Sappi North America has consistently demonstrated a commitment to transparency, innovation and doing good - environmentally, socially and economically.

Every day we work hard to ensure our policies and procedures across all areas of the business are operating efficiently and environmentally. The three pillars of sustainability – People, Planet and Prosperity – remain core to our operations, and collectively, these goals push us toward aggressively working to increasing safety and education for Sappi employees, building returns on net operating assets through increases in operational efficiency, and reducing energy and raw material waste.

We work at manufacturing, distributing and disposing of our products, from each of our core business units, in responsible and sustainable ways. We are committed to helping all our partners across the supply chain —from suppliers to customers—understand the true footprint of our business so that they can trust that when they do business with us, they are doing business with the leader in the industry.

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 2017 Sustainability Report here.

Content from this campaign

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Taking Safety Seriously: Sappi Hires EMTs On-Site at Somerset Mill
When you work in a remote location, every second counts in an emergency. An ambulance typically takes eight to ten minutes to reach the Somerset Mill location, so early intervention can provide the best possible outcome.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Sappi Increases Employee Engagement Efforts
Our people are critical to our operations. A key component to any successful employee engagement program is communication. At Sappi North America, we prioritize our communication efforts to ensure that all of our associates are informed of, and feel connected to, the organization’s business, mission, strategy and values. To this end, we utilize a number of resources, including email, social media, newsletters, events, video and printed collateral, to maintain organizational alignment and morale.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Sappi Teams Set New Safety Standard
We’re excited to report that 2017 was the best safety year in our recorded history, tied with 2013, and our most complex locations, the Somerset and Cloquet mills, clocked in with record-breaking safety performances.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Composting at Sappi Transforms Food Waste Into Community Resource
Sappi’s shared service center in South Portland Maine has implemented a program that collects the office’s organic solid waste on-site, adding a compost container to complement the existing single-stream recycling and landfill waste containers.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Sappi's Allentown Facility Carries "Zero Waste" Mission
Sappi’s Allentown sheeting facility generates just one pound of waste for every ton of paper processed, well below industry standards for zero waste designations. With great planning, execution, and a strong vision of how recycling can lower costs and bring in new revenue, Allentown’s range of materials re-used or recycled is impressive.

Allentown’s sheeting operations stand out as an excellent example of an industrial process that’s efficient, flexible and generates nearly zero waste.

Energy

Going Beyond the Mills: Energy-Efficient Infrastructure at Sappi
Our focus on energy and emissions extends beyond our mill gates. Since 2009, Sappi has participated in the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) SmartWay® Transport Partnership, an innovative collaboration between the EPA and companies that provide freight delivery services. In support of the partnership, we include the SmartWay specifi cation in our carrier bid contracts, and since 2013, approximately 95 percent of our cumulative domestic ton-miles have been shipped by SmartWay carriers.

Sustainable Development Goals

Sappi Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 22% in 2017
In terms of total consumption of energy, pulp and paper is third among industrial sectors; only the refi ning and chemical industries consume more. However, environmental impact is affected not just by the amount of energy consumed, but also by the type of energy. On average, US pulp and paper mills derive nearly two-thirds of their energy needs from renewable sources that are considered carbon neutral. Sappi’s mills derive nearly 80 percent of their energy from renewable resources.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Sappi Supports Forestry Conservation in Lake States
Every year, the SFI Implementation Committees pool and distribute resources, contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to various organizations in support of conservation, research and education. Since 1995, SFI participants have collectively contributed over $1.6 billion to conservation efforts. Our wood procurement group for the Cloquet Mill supports numerous conservation projects through direct funding and in-kind resources, as well as through the collaborative efforts of the SFI Implementation Committees in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Sustainable Development Goals

How Sappi Ensures Responsible Wood and Fiber Sourcing
Responsible manufacturing begins with responsible sourcing. For the wood products industry, it is paramount that our natural resources are used wisely. In the US, a strong legal framework has shaped and upheld responsible forestry practices for generations. The Clean Water Act first established the requirement for best management practices (BMPs) in the 1970s. Forestry BMPs have been evaluated, tested, revised, and adapted over time by each state. Third-party certification standards have led to additional improvements and provide a scalable assurance mechanism for stakeholders.

Innovation & Technology

Learn More About Sappi's Latest Business Venture: Sappi Biotech
In 2016, Sappi Limited established a new global business, Sappi Biotech, to accelerate our response to consumer demand for renewable products with a low carbon footprint.

Sappi took a major step forward in September 2017 toward efforts to expand its biorefi ning expertise with the acquisition of Xylex® and Versalac® technologies, owned by Plaxica Limited.
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