Prosperity

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Prosperity

Cultivating more value and purpose from every tree

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We're building a thriving world by unlocking the power of renewable resources. 

At Sappi, prosperity for a thriving world begins with championing innovative approaches to responsible forestry. It continues as we strive to make the most of every tree, byproduct and other resource across the value chain. 

With creativity and ingenuity, we're engineering new production methods and biobased products to support the circular economy our world needs. We make it our business to enable people and communities to prosper by our side. 

In our R&D centres, we make what we should, not just what we can. We're relentlessly focused on purposeful products that enhance people’s everyday lives with sustainability at the core. 

Our PROSPERITY targets

Our PROSPERITY targets
Responsible Consumption and Production

25 new products launched with defined sustainability benefits

Responsible Consumption and Production

Achieve 15% reduction in specific landfilled solid waste

Decent work and economic growth

2% above WACC

Partnerships for the Goals

Build and activate mutually beneficial partnerships

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Making the most of every tree

Making the most of every tree

Together with our partners, we're developing applications with woodfibre never imagined before.

Wood is a combination of predominantly three types of material: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Our researchers are going far beyond the cellulose for pulp and paper to develop applications that make the most of every tree with innovation at the core.

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Cellulose discovery

Considered nature's building block, cellulose is the basic structural material of all trees and the most important constituent of the paper, textiles and specialty products we produce. The size and quality of cellulose fibers are important considerations in our manufacturing processes. Learn more.

Hemicellulose discovery

We're co-creating products from hemicellulose to meet the growing demand for renewable products. All without increasing demand and competition on food sources. Co-products include sugars like xylitol (a low-energy sugar substitute) and lactic acid (used in the production of polylactic acid, a renewable plastic). Learn more.

Lignin discovery

Lignin, a major component of wood, is an abundant natural organic polymer that we use to support the biobased circular economy. Together with our partners, we’re unlocking the hidden potential of lignin for use in materials from concrete to biodegradable plastic. Learn more.

Global 2025 Sappi Targets (FY19 Baseline)
Partnerships for the Goals

Build and activate mutually beneficial partnerships

Responsible Consumption and Production

Achieve 15% reduction in specific landfilled solid waste

Responsible Consumption and Production

25 new products launched with defined sustainability benefits

Related Prosperity Story - Every Tree - NA

Related Prosperity Story - Every Tree - NA
North America

Engineering breakthroughs

Engineering breakthroughs

We're unlocking the chemistry of trees to meet the challenges of a carbon-constrained world. 

The breakthrough solutions we're engineering have incredible potential to reshape everything from the way food is packaged to the clothes on your back. It's all part of our relentless effort to contribute to a more sustainable future and more prosperous world.   

We act boldly with our customers and partners. We work to inspire others to understand and respect the responsible use of trees and to envision a more sustainable future for our businesses together.

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Sappi technology centres
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Sappi technology centres

Many of our world-first innovations emerged from our technology centres around the world. In 2019 alone, we spent USD 42 million on research and development. The technicians, engineers and scientists who staff our centres are relentlessly working towards solutions with woodfibre for a thriving, more sustainable world. Learn more.

Partnerships and co-development

Early identification of trends. Persistence and willingness to challenge the status quo. Disruptive technology. These are the key factors underpinning our approach to our partnerships with brands big and small. Together, we co-produce products for a thriving world, making every day more sustainable. Learn more.

Symbio discovery

Symbio combines wood’s best qualities and plastic’s flexibility for a biobased composite material that relies less on fossil fuels. It's one of our most innovative materials to support diverse industries on their path to a sustainable future. Learn more.

Valida discovery

Valida converts  woodfibres  into "super material" with a range of applications that are more eco-effective than conventional products.   It's a 100% natural, biodegradable and sustainable material. With the significant increase in consumption of hand sanitisers, Valida provides a natural cellulose product for more skin- and planet-friendly solutions. Learn more.

Global 2025 Sappi Targets (FY19 Baseline)
Partnerships for the Goals

Build and activate mutually beneficial partnerships

Responsible Consumption and Production

25 new products launched with defined sustainability benefits

Related Prosperity Story - Breakthroughs - NA

Related Prosperity Story - Breakthroughs - NA
North America

Going circular

Going circular

Recyclable woodfibre products are accelerating the transition to the circular economy.

Paper is one of the most widely recycled materials in the world. In some regions the recovery rate is already over 70%. We are continuously innovating to create new products and processes that improve circularity across our business.

Most paper is made from woodfibre, a natural renewable material sourced from trees. That paper can be made with two types of fibres. Fresh fibre, also known as virgin fibre, is made from wood harvested for the first time, while recycled fibre, true to its name, is reused fresh fibre.

As you can see in this video, choosing when to use fresh or recycled fibre for your project requires careful consideration to determine the more sustainable option. Both types of fibres work together to keep paper flowing in a circular loop.

Watch the video on fresh fibre with Sappi

 

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Keeping fresh and recycled fibre in the loop

Fresh fibre from sustainably managed forests and recycled fibre from paper products - both are needed to keep paper flowing in a circular economy.  

The benefits of recycling paper in a circular economy are encouraging and exciting. It can conserve natural resources, save energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and keep material out of landfills. At the same, using recycled or ‘recovered’ fibre in higher-quality products requires more processing, increasing both fibre loss and use of energy, water and chemicals. 

For all these reasons and more, choosing when to use fresh or recycled material for your products requires careful consideration to ensure a positive environmental outcome. Let us explain. 

Closing the loop requires both.  Each time fibre is recycled, it becomes shorter and weaker, and fibres are lost. The addition of fresh fibre into paper production maintains its strength and quality. In this way, recycled and fresh fibres complement each other ecologically and economically. Without the continual addition of fresh fibre, the recycled paper loop would come to a stop.  

It’s about best use-case. Optimising the life of recovered fibres requires use in the right applications. For instance, higher-quality paper products requiring brightness and low contamination should use fresh fibres. Using recovered fibres in these applications requires too much processing with adverse impacts on energy and water consumption, waste generation and the recovery yield from the fibres. It could also jeopardise product safety, especially in applications with food contact. 

Recycled fibre is more cost-efficient with less environmental impact in products such as corrugated boxboard or tissue. With limited recycled fibre available, it is important to use it where it actually delivers optimum environmental impact.  

Down-cycling is decisive. While high-quality paper such as fine stationary can be recycled in subsequent applications, low-quality products such as tissue cannot be recycled into higher-end papers. By properly ‘down cycling’ as we move further down the continuum of paper grades, we ensure that as much recovered high- and low-quality fibre as possible stays in the paper loop.

Making packaging more circular

Functional papers support the shift away from plastic towards renewable, paper-based packaging solutions that meet stringent health and safety standards while also being recyclable. They deliver barriers to oxygen, moisture, grease and more that radically expand the boundaries for paper-based applications and can replace nonrecyclable plastic materials. Learn more.

Turning woodfibre into circular fashion

Less than 1% of clothing is turned into new clothes, representing a loss of more than $100 billion worth of materials. Fast fashion contributes to approximately 85% of used textiles ending up in landfills. Sappi is committed to finding solutions to this textile waste. We’re engaging with technology companies to remove textile waste from the value chain. The aim is to use these fibres to add additional capacity to our dissolving wood pulp production process. This will enable the Sappi Dissolving Wood Pulp business and our Verve brand to supply the fashion sector with fibre derived from sustainably managed forests, and to reduce waste and improve circularity across the textile value chain. Learn more.

Global 2025 Sappi Targets (FY19 Baseline)
Partnerships for the Goals

Build and activate mutually beneficial partnerships

Responsible Consumption and Production

Achieve 15% reduction in specific landfilled solid waste

Responsible Consumption and Production

25 new products launched with defined sustainability benefits

Related Prosperity Story - Circular - NA

Related Prosperity Story - Circular - NA
North America

Product stewardship

Product stewardship

Although our products are derived from renewable resources with great natural attributes, we continuously strive to reduce their environmental footprints.  

Through  product stewardship, we’re  focused on quantifying and reporting the environmental impact of our products. This enables us to  benchmark and track  our  progress  to  become more eco-effective. It also requires engagement throughout our supply chain, encouraging suppliers to also measure and report  the data related to their materials.    

We  use numerous  product and mill certifications to reinforce our environmental management systems and validate our reporting. We make product information and declarations available so that customers can make responsible, informed choices for their business needs.  

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Globally

Our social, environmental and governance performance is regularly reviewed and assessed by different external agencies.  

  • JSE & FTSE4Good: We are included in the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Top 30 Index and confirmed as a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series
  • ISS ESG: We are classified as Prime by Oekom, one of the world's leading environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and rating agencies for sustainable investments
  • Ecovadis: All Sappi regions are assessed by Ecovadis on an annual basis, receiving a platinum score in Europe in 2020
  • CDP: Our sustainability performance in terms of climate change and forests is scored annually by CDP
  • Global Child Forum: Recognised as a leader in the 2019 Corporate Sector and Children's Rights Benchmark
In Europe

For product ranges produced in Europe, we provide the following product datasheets: Paper Profiles™, Wood-Origin declarations, COFootprints and Declarations of Compliance, which also provide information about non-use of unwanted substances. Our product certifications include: EU Ecolabel and Nordic Ecolabel Inspection. Contact your sales representative to get the product information you need.  

In North America

We developed a Greenhouse Gas Calculator to help customers determine their carbon savings (Scope 1 and Scope 2) from purchasing Sappi North America graphic and packaging products compared with industry averages. Existing customers can start calculating savings within our e-Commerce platform.    

We also provide Wood Origin Declarations and statements covering regulatory compliance and product status on other topics of interest to our customers. Contact your sales representative to get the product information you need.

In South Africa

We make Paper Profiles™, Wood-Origin declarations and information sheets available for our papers made in South Africa. Contact your sales representative to get the product information you need.  

Global 2025 Sappi Targets (FY19 Baseline)

#13 - Climate Action

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Climate Action

Decrease specific GHG (Scope 1 + 2) emissions

Partnerships for the Goals

Build and activate mutually beneficial partnerships

#15 - Life on Land

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Life on Land

Greater than 10% improvement in biodiversity in Sappi’s conservation areas

#15 - Life on Land

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Life on Land

Greater than 75% share of certified fibre

Related Prosperity Story - Stewardship - NA

Related Prosperity Story - Stewardship - NA
North America

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