Verso Corp. (Memphis, Tenn., USA), a producer of printing and specialty papers and pulp in North America, this week announced the publication of its 2015 Sustainability Report titled "A Principled Path to Sustainability."

"Throughout Verso’s history and continuing today, the Verso Foundation document—the framework for our core values, vision, mission and principles—guides our everyday decisions and keeps us focused on the things that matter most," said Verso Chairman, President and CEO Dave Paterson. "One of these is an uncompromising respect for a sustainable balance among economic, socia,l and environmental needs. The theme of this year’s Sustainability Report, "A Principled Path to Sustainability," reflects not only how we achieve this balance, but also who we are as a company."

The 2015 report is organized according to Verso’s five sustainability principles, which focus on responsible sourcing, environmental and safety improvement, product stewardship, stakeholder partnerships, and transparency.

2015 Sustainability Highlights: 

• Verso’s Lost Workday Incident Rate (LWIR)—a measure of serious injuries—improved 10% to 0.54; however, the company’s Total Incident Rate (TIR) increased slightly over the previous year to 1.44.
• Forty-eight percent of the fiber used in Verso’s products was third-party certified and 32% of its total paper sold was chain-of-custody certified.
• Carbon-neutral, wood-based biomass accounted for 64.4% of on-site energy generated at Verso’s mills.
• More than 58% of the manufacturing byproducts generated at Verso’s mills was reused for energy generation and 28.1% was reclaimed for other beneficial reuse applications. Only 13.7% of Verso’s solid waste was sent to landfills.
• Nearly 1.4 million lb. of paper were recovered for recycling through the Duluth Mill’s magazine collection program, with 6.8 million lb. recovered since its inception in 2008.
• Verso has the capability to offer FSC®, SFI® and PEFC™ chain-of-custody certified products across all paper and pulp grades and products with 10% to 30% recycled fiber content. 
• Verso and its employees made financial and in-kind contributions totaling approximately $638,000 to a wide variety of community organizations with a focus on education, sustainability, and local health and human services.

Verso purchased goods and services to run its business from more than 2,450 local/regional vendors, spending more than $950 million. In addition, the company spent nearly $550 million on local/regional purchases of wood needed to manufacture its products.