'Doing Right' with responsible procurement

Ensuring these suppliers ‘do right’ alongside us by acting ethically, responsibly and sustainably is a top priority. One that is enshrined in our Supplier Code of Conduct and supported by our collaboration with EcoVadis, a global platform providing business sustainability ratings.

According to Code

Doing right with suppliers begins with our Supplier Code of Conduct. It ensures that Sappi’s values and ethical standards are clearly understood and supported by all our suppliers, their first-tier suppliers and other stakeholders.

The Code of Conduct outlines the minimum expectations for our suppliers, acting in accordance with our values and standards and operating in full compliance with the applicable laws, rules, and regulations of their respective countries at all times.

Requirements cover aspects related to:

• Business ethics
• Human rights
• Health & safety
• Environment
• Diversity & equal opportunity

We request that suppliers provide signed declarations of compliance and/or we incorporate Code of Conduct compliance as part of their contract with Sappi. We’ve committed to achieve declared compliance for 80 percent of our procurement spend by 2025.

Supported by EcoVadis

Our partnership with EcoVadis reinforces our Supplier Code of Conduct by giving us more insight into our Suppliers’ responsible business practices and sustainability performance.

Through EcoVadis we gain an appreciation for how our supply chain partners address critical topics like labour and human rights within their operations. We can also identify where performance is below our expectations or the industry average so that we can take action accordingly. EcoVadis assessment results can be integrated into our sourcing and supplier review processes to inform our procurement decisions.

The Ecovadis methodology focuses on 21 sustainability criteria aligned with international sustainability standards including the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and the ISO 26000 standard.