BOSTON, Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sappi Fine
Paper North America announced today the release of its 2012
Sustainability Report, the company's second annual regional
report focusing on the company's strong sustainability performance
in North America over the past few
years.
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Demonstrating how sustainable development is fundamental to
Sappi's business strategy, the publication reports on our continued
commitments to achieving strategic goals in sustainability, which
extend beyond our mill gates to local communities, customers and
industry partners.
"Sustainability is a catalyst for growth and over the past five
years, we have achieved considerable progress towards our long-term
goals," said Jennifer Miller,
executive vice president of coated business and chief
sustainability officer. "It is this vision that drives our core
business strategy, one that recognizes that financial success can
only be achieved when operations and sustainability work
hand-in-hand to ensure a more profitable future."
The Next Five-Year Goals (2012-2016)
Building on the company's baseline achievements, Sappi's goals for
the next five years continue to focus on people, planet and
prosperity with increased drive to further improvements:
People
- Target 30,000 hours of education and training for customers
through the Sappi ETC. (Education, Training and Consulting)
program
- Enhance job performance and managerial skills for all employees
by offering training and education at an average rate of 75 hours
per employee annually
Planet
- Increase the level of certified fiber across all operations to
65%
- Reduce the amount of total energy expended in making each ton
of product by 10%
- Reduce fiber and papermaking raw material waste by 10%
Prosperity
- Achieve or exceed an annual 12% return on net assets for Sappi
Fine Paper North America
"Our company reputation is built on providing quality products,
services, and the commitment to make sustainability a priority
across all operations," said Laura
Thompson, director of technical marketing and sustainable
development. "Our performance against these strategic goals enables
us to improve profitability, grow our market presence, and meet the
evolving needs of our customers every day."
Promoting Sustainability Through Social Responsibility and
Community Outreach
In support of the recently published 2012 Sustainability
Report, Sappi has also expanded its efforts to promote
sustainable practices through social responsibility and community
outreach programs.
Among its most recent initiatives, Sappi has lead the
conversation on sustainability as a founding member of GreenBlue's
Forest Products Working Group, an organization addressing
challenges in the forest products sector, and as a founding member
of Two Sides, an educational outreach organization dedicated to
raising awareness of responsible paper production.
A few community engagement programs geared to educate the public
about sustainability, also detailed in the 2012 Sustainability
Report, include Sappi's inaugural Green Community Day event and
its partnership with Living Lands & Waters for River Quest. These initiatives reflect the
company culture built on education, integrity, and respect.
For more information, please see Sappi Fine Paper North
America's 2012 Sustainability Report.
About Sappi Fine Paper North America
Sappi Fine Paper
North America, known for innovation and quality, is a preeminent
North American producer of coated fine and release papers and
market pulp headquartered in Boston,
Massachusetts. Its coated fine papers, with highly
recognized brand names such as McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are used in premium
magazines, catalogs, books and high-end print advertising. The
company is also the world's leading supplier of release papers for
the automotive, fashion and engineered films industries, including
the globally recognized Ultracast brand. Sappi's release papers
provide the surface aesthetics for synthetic fabrics used in
footwear, clothing, upholstery and accessories, as well as the
textures for decorative laminates found in kitchens, baths,
flooring and other decorative surfaces. An integrated pulp and
paper producer, with state-of-the-art pulp mills, Sappi is the
third largest seller of hardwood pulp in North America.
Sappi Fine Paper North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited
(NYSE, JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with over 14,000
employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven
countries and customers in over 100 countries around the world.
Learn more about Sappi at: www.sappi.com/na.
SOURCE Sappi Fine Paper North America