Sustainable Purpose
Social Impact
To realise our vision of a thriving world, we continue investing in communities and creating shared value.
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We recognise that we are part of the communities beyond our fence lines and that their prosperity and wellbeing are linked to ours. We partner with communities to jointly identify and leverage opportunities that support community needs and align with Sappi’s purpose and our Group Sustainability Charter.
While each region has its own programme, they conform to common themes. Naturally, forestry related activities are a core focus, followed by environmental protection and conservation, education and community welfare. As a company with South African roots globally headquartered in Johannesburg, the significant needs of this country have remained a focus for Sappi since our founding in 1936.
The underlying goals of our social impact programme are to create shared value, especially in areas where Sappi can make the biggest impact.
Andre Oberholzer, Group Head, Corporate Affairs, Sappi Limited
Sappi Khulisa - over 40 years of uplifting rural communities
Our Sappi Khulisa tree-farming scheme in South Africa was initiated in 1983. It’s an integral part of our woodfibre supply chain, enhancing security of fibre supply, while uplifting rural communities by equipping them to become sustainable participants in the forestry value chain.
At Khulisa Ulwazi ('Growing knowledge') centres, we offer training on core operational skills in forestry as well as safety, legal compliance and business management. We started with three farmers working on eight hectares. Today, there are over 4,100 farmers and nearly 1,000 micro-enterprises working on more than 37,000 hectares of land.
Our focus is on shared value and social impact
Education
Early childhood Development
Closing the digital divide projects
MyWalk shoe donations
Youth and skills development
Sappi Skill Centres
Career Pathways Development for Employment Programme (CPD4E)
Bursaries and internal training programmes
Environment
EcoStudy Programme
Sappi Trails Programme
Bursaries and internal training programmes
Nature reserves
Sappi Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species Stewardship Programme
Water stewardship
Community development
Abashintshi
Enterprise development
Enterprise and supplier development
Sappi Khulisa
Social impact initiatives in South Africa
Abashintshi life skills training
Long-lasting change comes from within individuals and communities. With this understanding, we launched the Abashintshi ('Changers' in isiZulu) programme in 2015 to plant seeds of opportunity for positive change across KwaZulu-Natal.
Together with partners, we train youth to mobilise their communities to develop themselves in line with the asset-based community development (ABCD) model.
Abashintshi are selected based on successful completion of high school studies and their leadership potential. They then embark on a series of regular training courses over a period of a year focused on life skills and self-development. Upon completion, Abashintshi return home and apply their new skills and passions in their communities.
Supporting small businesses and unemployed youth
Small business is the backbone of South Africa's economy, fuelling growth, sustaining workers in meaningful employment and providing vital services. With Sappi’s Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) programme, we identify procurement opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and provide capacity building programmes to enhance their competitiveness.
Sappi Skills Centres provide unemployed youth near our operations with vocational skills that help enable them to create local businesses. You can read more about our recent progress in Sappi's 2025 Group Sustainability Report.
Fostering environmental awareness
EcoStudy is an initiative Sappi is proud to support in communities near our mills in South Africa that ensures students receive meaningful education about the environment and sustainable development. One of the key objectives is to illustrate the importance of biodiversity conservation in direct relation to the children’s own lives, encouraging learners to take practical responsibility for rehabilitating their environment within school grounds and their community.
Another initiative is the Sappi Trails Programme. Our plantations in South Africa have been open for trail running and cycling since 2011. This community programme aims at developing and improving the trails for the public to enjoy, but also trains apprentices to gain skills in trail building and maintenance. The programme complements our work to enhance biodiversity which we achieve by leaving 30% of our landholdings unplanted, managing seven nature reserves and 160 important conservation areas on Sappi land.
Show Your Heart employee volunteering programme
Since its launch at Sappi Southern Africa on Mandela Day in 2023, Show Your Heart has provided Sappi employees with meaningful opportunities to support the communities where we live and work. The programme enables staff to contribute their time, skills, and resources through company-organised service days, matched giving initiatives, and three annual volunteer leave days.
To date, over 800 employees have participated, dedicating approximately 2,000 hours, to causes that support education, environmental sustainability, and community development. Through these efforts, we have positively impacted more than 9,000 beneficiaries, reinforcing our commitment to driving sustainable change.
By fostering a culture of volunteerism, Show Your Heart strengthens the connection between our employees, our business, and the communities we serve — ensuring a lasting, positive impact.
beneficiaries of our volunteering programme
beneficiaries of our volunteering programme
Supporting the communities where we work
Over 800 employees have dedicated around 2,000 hours of their time, skills and resources through Show Your Heart.
Social impact initiatives in North America
Forging Community Connections
The Community Connection programme has been supporting our local mill communities in North America since 1998, addressing community needs in education, the environment, the arts, health and more. Our investments in the programme have provided over $2 million in direct funding to over 3,700 non-profit initiatives.
Fostering Ideas that Matter (ITM)
Nearly two decades ago, Sappi recognised the need to create a platform that blended design excellence with a commitment to charity, leading to the birth of Ideas that Matter. Since its inception, the Ideas that Matter (ITM) grants have provided nearly $15 million in support of over 500 projects that have positively impacted lives, communities, the environment, and the world.We are incredibly proud of the transformative work that has emerged from this programme, as our grant recipients are making measurable, positive changes across the globe.
ITM grant recipients have leveraged their funding to tackle a wide array of social challenges, including poverty, homelessness, disease, pollution, education, and much more. As we look to the future, we are revamping the programme to address our evolving world and business needs. We acknowledge the increased demand for innovative solutions that enhance the wellbeing of our people, communities, and the planet.
Driving impactful change
Over the past 20 years, our Ideas That Matter programme has provided grants to designers and their nonprofit collaborators to empower great ideas. Learn more about it here
Employee Ideas that Matter
While we update ITM, we continue to support the Employee Ideas that Matter (EITM) programme, which was inspired by ITM. EITM operates in a similar fashion, but it focuses on supporting nonprofit and charitable organisations that are meaningful to our employees and their communities. Investments range from supporting food banks and children’s education to local health initiatives. Since its launch, the programme has grown by 200%, funding more than 80 impactful programmes.
in support of over 500 projects
in support of over 500 projects
Making a positive impact
Our Ideas That Matter (ITM) recipients tackle a wide array of social challenges with help from our grants.
Social impact initiatives in Europe
Prioritising youth in Finland
At Kirkniemi Mill, our staff continues to come together every year to donate EUR10,000 to local charities. The funds were raised when staff pledged their own rewards generated through continuous improvement savings at the mill. Through this collective effort, the mill provided equal sponsorship to five local charities which all prioritise youth. Employees have donated a total of EUR102,500 since 2016 to organisations ranging from local sports clubs to a school for children with special needs.
donated by colleagues since 2016
donated by colleagues since 2016
Funding for a bright future
Every year, staff at Kirkniemi Mill donate to five local charities that prioritise local youth organisations.
Caring for our community in the United Kingdom
In December 2024, Sappi Rockwell launched the Caring for Our Community initiative, supporting four local football teams nominated by employees. Many staff members also volunteered as coaches, reinforcing the programme’s emphasis on direct involvement. Located in Dundee, where nearly one in four children live in low-income households, these teams play a key role in promoting youth development and community cohesion.
Caring for our community in Germany
Sappi Alfeld continues to integrate cultural and environmental support through long-standing local partnerships. As a regular contributor to the Internationale Fredener Musiktage, the site donates paper for the festival’s programme booklet, helping facilitate cultural exchange and access to the arts. Separately, used pallets were repurposed into nesting boxes for birds by a local conservationist, with one placed along the European Hiking Trail E11 by a Sappi employee highlighting small-scale contributions to biodiversity.
Sappi Ehingen maintains active support for local sports, cultural, and educational programmes. These include partnerships with youth teams, music clubs, and tournaments such as the Vereins-Service-Cup Munderkingen. The mill also contributes to sustainability projects in partner schools, encouraging volunteerism and shared learning.
Ehingen also welcomed pupils and teachers from the local area’s elementary school to explore the world of papermaking. Building on what they’d already covered in class, our team shared practical insights into how paper is made, the importance of using the whole tree, and how we can all use paper more thoughtfully.
In support of vulnerable children, Sappi Ehingen backs Radio 7 Drachenkinder, a regional charity assisting sick, disabled, and traumatised youth. Since 2005, over 9,500 families have received direct aid through this initiative, with funds allocated by an independent committee to ensure transparency and local relevance.
Caring for our community in Poland
At the Cracow Centre of Process Excellence, employees and their families created handmade holiday cards for seniors, which were included in seasonal gift packages prepared by the site. This initiative combined intergenerational connection with community outreach. In a separate activity, the Cracow team partnered with the Krzeszowice Forest District to plant approximately 250 trees as part of the Sappi 4 Charity initiative—supporting reforestation and environmental awareness through collaborative action.
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How a sapling can empower a community: Sappi Khulisa
If you had driven past the hills of KwaZulu-Natal in 1983, you might have noticed a few young saplings on a handful of rural plots of land. What you wouldn’t have known is that this was the beginning of one of South Africa’s most quietly transformative economic inclusion programmes.