Sappi North America, Boston, Mass., USA, a producer and supplier of diversified paper and packaging products, has released its 2016 Sustainability Report. 

"Each year, we look forward to reporting our progress against the five-year goals we set to ensure that Sappi North America continues as a thriving, sustainable, re-investable paper and paper-based packaging company," said Mark Gardner, president and CEO, Sappi North America. "In addition to our award-winning environmental practices, this year, I am also proud of the continued innovation in our products, reinvestment in our business, and commitment to safety by our employees and stakeholders. We have an eye to the future and we're eager to see what the next year brings." 

Sappi North America's sustainability goals are segmented according to the three most critical elements of its business—People, Planet, and Prosperity. Collectively, these goals account for an aggressive approach to increasing safety and education for Sappi employees, building returns on net operating assets through increases in operational efficiency, and reducing energy and raw material waste. Some of this year's performance highlights include:

• Sappi maintained its commitment to responsible sourcing with 100% of its fiber procured in accordance with the SFI Fiber Sourcing standard, as well as the FSC Controlled Wood standard; 54% of its total fiber came from certified sources. 
• Sappi's Cloquet Mill reached multiple safety milestones, including reaching one million work hours without a loss time injury twice in the fiscal year, ending with a total LTIFR of 0.13. 
• Sappi remains the manufacturer with the lowest carbon footprint out of all domestic producers of coated freesheet papers in the U.S., and its combined direct and indirect emissions total just 0.38 tons CO2/ton of product, the company reports. 
• The solid waste sent to landfills reached its lowest level in the past five years, due in large part to the continued expansion of Sappi's beneficial use program where by-products are used by local landowners as a soil amendment. 

Additionally, the company’s mutually beneficial sustainability efforts are being recognized outside of Sappi. In 2016, the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), Washington, D.C., awarded Sappi with the AF&PA Leadership in Sustainability Award for Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Reduction for creating a process to capture excess heat and reuse it elsewhere in the manufacturing process. According to Donna Harman, president and CEO of the AF&PA, "Sappi's Hood Heat Recovery Project at Somerset is a shining example of how improvements to industry infrastructure can benefit the environment as well as the bottom line." 

Sappi North America's 2016 Sustainability Report is available online.

Sappi North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Ltd., a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with more than 12,000 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven countries and customers in more than 150 countries around the world.