On the 16th of November, employees from Sappi Fine Paper Europe’s Headquarters in Brussels headed out to the Forêt de Soignes, armed with 2750 saplings, ready to be planted. Sustainability is an everyday reality at Sappi, and this initiative is ‘real’ example of how Sappi people can, and do, embrace sustainability on a day to day basis.
Employee-led tree-planting started at Sappi in Spring 2010. Since then, over 8000 trees have been planted by employees in conjunction with the ANB (Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos), the equivalent of the Department of Forestry. This organisation is responsible for the planting of approximately 30,000 trees in the Forêt de Soignes every year as part of the National Forest Management Plan (Belgium). Over 50 people from the company volunteered to take part in the very physical team building exercise, and the result brought great satisfaction to the group.
Sophie de Guignard, responsible for coordinating the group said, “We‘re looking forward to next year when we will plant our 10,000th tree. It will be a significant milestone, and a great reason to inspire others to share the same experience, and understand how to make sustainability real.”
Sappi’s tree planting initiative belongs to a series of sustainability driven initiatives at Sappi all with the objective of demonstrating that sustainability is at the heart of everything that Sappi does. Sappi cares, and wants to engage with others to care together. In September, the Treehouse was launched (www.the-treehouse.be). The Treehouse partnership is both a physical and virtual platform, for like-minded individuals and companies to come together to find ways to embrace sustainability in their daily activities. Sappi’s new sustainability website - We Care (www.sappipositivity.com) - is similarly focused on sharing knowledge and inspiring others to join and build momentum.
ENDS
Notes to the Editor
La Forêt de Soignes is a forest located in the south-eastern part of Brussels covering an area of over 4400 hectares - http://www.zonienwoud.be
Sappi Fine Paper Europe Tree Planting Expeditions have planted the following numbers of trees:
- Spring 2010 – 1250 trees
- Spring 2011 – 2200 trees
- Winter 2011 – 2000 trees
- Winter 2012 – 2750 trees
Sappi’s approach to sustainability is based on a holistic view of Planet, People and Prosperity (the 3P’s). These values and commitments underpin everything we do.
Planet: contributing to a world of biodiversity, renewable energy and environmental care
People: adding to the wellbeing, safety and health of employees and communities
Prosperity: aiming at long-term profitability and customer satisfaction through innovation and ethical conduct.
About Sappi
Sappi Fine Paper Europe is the leading European producer of coated fine paper used in premium magazines, catalogues, books and high-end print advertising. Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, Sappi Fine Paper Europe is recognised for innovation and quality. Its graphic paper brands include Magno, Quatro, Royal, Galerie and GalerieArt ranges. Algro, Fusion, Leine and Parade are the brands for speciality labelling, topliner, packaging papers and boards. Jaz is the paper brand for digital printing.
Sappi papers are produced in mills accredited with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification and EMAS registration for all our mills in the EU. SFPE’s mills hold chain-of-custody certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and/or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) schemes.
Sappi Fine Paper Europe is a division of Sappi Limited (NYSE, JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with over 14,900 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in 7 countries and customers in over 100 countries around the world. Learn more about Sappi atwww.sappi.com.
