Focusing on sustainability only makes business sense if doing so adds value. As our Sustainability Charter commitments help us extract strategic value, we view them as a business imperative and a way of honing our competitive advantage. Meeting our Charter commitments is essential to our sustainability as an organisation, but so, too, is balancing these commitments. The issues that affect us and our stakeholders are constantly evolving and shifting in importance. Being sensitive to these developments means balancing and adjusting our energies and capital expenditure in terms of the commitments while maintaining our core values of Integrity, Courage, Smartness and Speed.
Sustainability makes sound business sense. We depend on our stakeholders to help us create long-term business value and on natural resources for our commercial viability. Accordingly, we have a strong business case for responsible corporate citizenship.
Engaging with stakeholders is the basis of our licence to trade. To build a sustainable business, we have to understand our stakeholders’ concerns, expectations and priorities and engage with them on an ongoing basis through a structured, inclusive, transparent process.
We use natural resources like woodfibre and water to create products that support society’s needs. To ensure the ongoing viability of these resources, we strive to achieve the highest standards of environmental performance.
Responsible corporate citizenship not only enhances our reputation, it also helps promote financial success in the following ways: Engaging with stakeholders helps to increase employee motivation and productivity, and enhances customer satisfaction and community relations, while environmental initiatives drive direct savings in energy and materials.
Latest published sustainability reports
Browse our interactive 2017 Sappi Group Sustainability Report
or contact us to order a hard copy.
If we are to succeed in realising our vision, we recognise that we have to be agile enough to respond not just to changes in the business landscape, but also to the evolving needs of our people and the communities in which our operations are situated.
Valli Moosa, Chairman of the Social, Ethics, Transformation and Sustainability Committee
I am pleased to be able to say that our drive to work as One Sappi is bearing fruit, enabling us to better respond to market dynamics and geo-political challenges. It is clear to me that our value statement ‘At Sappi we do business with integrity and courage, making smart decisions which we execute with speed’, is guiding people towards the right behaviour and is providing the foundation for further growth.
Steve Binnie, Chief Executive Officer, Sappi Limited
Sappi Skills Centres in Southern Africa
Learn more about our skills development initiatives for unemployed youth in South Africa.
We hold ourselves accountable to global sustainability best practice standards by transparently measuring, monitoring and communicating our economic, social and environmental performance.
Our ability to deliver value creation for our shareholders by focusing on improved profitability, strategic positioning and debt reduction lies at the heart of our commitment to sustainability.
Active corporate citizenship programmes relevant to the needs of the communities where we operate ensure that we promote socio-economic development within these communities.
Recognising that we live in a world where natural resources are under increasing pressure, we aim to lighten our environmental footprint.
Our certifications ensure that our performance is monitored and that our operations comply with global best practice.
We support the spirit of Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) and commit Sappi to significant planned and enacted transformation.
Sappi Skills Centres provide opportunities for unemployed youth in Southern Africa.
Sustainability in other regions
Learn more about our operations and key sustainability issues in North America.
At Sappi Europe, we have chosen to be eco-effective, integrating the way we do business with our approach to the environment.
Sustainability is the driving force in every decision we make as a company.