Trust, but verify. This is the value of third-party assessments including the annual review undertaken by EcoVadis.
All three of Sappi’s manufacturing regions – Europe, North America and South Africa – once again achieved the highest possible rating, platinum, in the annual EcoVadis Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ratings. This achievement places the regions individually and Sappi collectively in the top 1% of over 90,000 companies assessed by EcoVadis.
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Enhancing trust is one of Sappi’s key strategic fundamentals. We work to make every day more sustainable for people, communities and the planet. We demonstrate this through our tangible actions, our partnerships, public reporting, the group’s alignment with the United Nations Global Compact and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and importantly also through various assessments and verifications.
“There is no endgame to our sustainability journey, and we can and must go further. Even with our high scores and platinum ratings, the value of the EcoVadis assessment is that it highlights areas for improvement,” says Tracy Wessels, Sappi Group Head of Investor Relations and Sustainability.
“We’re reducing waste, emissions and optimising material and resource use at every opportunity across the company. This rating recognises the positive impact of all our actions in 2022 and motivates us all to keep going,” explains Sarah Price, Director of Sustainability in Europe.
As of 2021, EcoVadis assessments of CSR performance are extending through Sappi’s value chain. Sappi is using the EcoVadis platform to assess the sustainability practices of its suppliers. “Having undergone the rating process in all three of their regional entities and achieving platinum-level performance, Sappi is setting a great example for their suppliers to follow”, says Emily Rakowski, CMO of EcoVadis.
As a rating agency for business sustainability performance, EcoVadis’ assessments are thorough and respected. Over 90,000 companies from more than 160 countries across more than 200 purchasing categories have been assessed. Companies are evaluated for their performance in terms of a total of 21 criteria, which in turn are divided into four general areas: environment, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement.
About Sappi
A global leader in dissolving pulp and paper-based solutions, Sappi Limited is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa; has over 12,000 employees; manufacturing facilities on three continents, in ten countries (ten operations in Europe, four operations in North America and five operations in South Africa) and customers in over 150 countries worldwide
Sappi works closely with customers to provide relevant and sustainable dissolving pulp, paper (speciality, packaging and graphic), paper pulp, and biomaterial products and related services and innovations. Our market-leading range of paper products includes flexible packaging, label, release liner, containerboard, graphic papers, casting release papers and in our Southern African region newsprint, uncoated graphic and business papers. These products serve the fashion, FMCG and industrial sectors. Our dissolving pulp products are used worldwide by converters to produce viscose fibre, pharmaceutical products as well as a wide range of household and consumer products.
Sappi drives product innovation and the development of new uses for its renewable resource (woodfibre) as well as for the biomass and other residues from its production processes. One such area is in the field of biomaterials (cellulose composites, nanocellulose and lignins), biochemicals including hemi-cellulose sugars and bio-energy forest products materials which Sappi believes will play a key role in its future range of products, both as commercial products and for applications within Sappi.
We continue to grow into a profitable and cash-generative diversified business with an exciting future in woodfibre, a renewable resource. www.sappi.com
