Sappi Fine Paper North America Launches 2011 Sustainability Report

Sappi Fine Paper North America, Boston, Mass., USA, this week launched its 2011 Sustainability Report, its first ever regional report focusing on environmental and social responsibility performance. The report illustrates how sustainability is fundamental to Sappi's business strategy and future success, underscoring its commitment to corporate transparency.

Among its most recent initiatives, Sappi has extended its participation in a pilot project in Maine with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). It has also become a member of the Forest Stewardship Council FSC) to support sustainable forestry through chain of custody certification.

The report highlights the company's performance against its current five-year goals and outlines new five-year goals that measure Sappi's impact on the environment, its social responsibility to employees, customers, and constituents in the communities in which it operates, and its prosperity as a business. These goals were designed by Sappi to establish best practices across the company and produce results in key areas of public concern and operational impact.

"Four years ago, we laid out an ambitious set of sustainability goals and implemented a corporate governance structure and business strategy to achieve them," said Mark Gardner, president and CEO of Sappi Fine Paper North America. "Our performance over the past four years has been exceptional and I am confident that Sappi's new goals and strategy will lead to deeper improvements, enabling the continued investment in our people, assets and service."

The 2011 Sustainability Report also publishes Sappi Fine Paper North America's position and performance data on current environmental issues facing the pulp and paper industry, including sustainable forestry, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions, and the responsible use of recycled paper.

On track to meet or exceed all but one of its original 2008 - 2012 goals, Sappi has developed a new set of aggressive five-year goals for 2012 - 2016. Its new goals span the areas of planet, people, and prosperity, and consist of the following:

Planet

Increase the amount of fiber (both purchased and Sappi produced pulp) sourced from certified forests 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%.

People

Target 30,000 hr 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 hr per employee annually.

Prosperity

Achieve or exceed an annual 12% return on net assets for Sappi Fine Paper North America.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/