Sappi Becomes an International Stakeholder Member of PEFC

JOHANNESBURG, July 2, 2019 /3BL Media/ - Sappi Limited (Sappi) is pleased to announce that we have become an International Stakeholder member of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification™

(PEFC™). This membership aligns with our focus on sustainable forest management and responsible procurement throughout our supply and value chains.

Steve Binnie, Sappi Chief Executive Officer, commented that “Credible, internationally recognised, robust forest certification systems like PEFC are fundamental to Sappi’s commitment to sustainability. These systems give assurance to our value chain of the origin of our woodfibre and responsible forest management practices.”

Graeme Wild, Sappi’s Group Head of Sustainability and Investor Relations, added “Given that stakeholder engagement underpins our approach to doing business at Sappi, we welcome the opportunity to become a PEFC International Stakeholder member.

Through voting in PEFC´s General Assembly and joining Working Groups and Committees we look forward to sharing our expertise and contributing to the mission of PEFC.”

“The collaboration reinforces our contribution towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals and in particular SDG 15 - Life on Land; given our common priorities to promote sustainable forest management and support smallholder forestry around the world.” 

PEFC is also increasingly becoming an important forest certification option in South Africa, responding to customers’ requests for PEFC labelled products. Over the past years, Sappi has been collaborating with national stakeholders to develop a national forest certification system. These efforts have now delivered the South African Forest Assurance Scheme (SAFAS) – which has recently been assessed and endorsed by PEFC.

ENDS

About Sappi Limited

A global leader in paper, paper pulp and dissolving wood pulp solutions, Sappi Limited (listed and in the Top 40 on the JSE), is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa; has over 12,000 employees; manufacturing operations on three continents, in seven countries (nine mills in Europe, three mills in America and four mills in South Africa) and customers in over 150 countries worldwide.

Sappi works closely with customers to provide relevant and sustainable paper, paper pulp, dissolving wood pulp and biomaterial products and related services and innovations. Our market-leading range of paper products includes: coated fine papers used by printers, publishers and corporate end-users; casting release papers used by suppliers to the fashion, textiles, automobile and household industries; and in our Southern African region newsprint, uncoated graphic and business papers, premium quality packaging papers and paper grade pulp. Our dissolving wood pulp products are used worldwide by converters to produce viscose fibre, pharmaceutical products as well as a wide range of household and consumer products.

In FY2018 we produced approximately: 5.7 million tons of printing and writing, speciality and packaging paper; 2.3 million tons of paper pulp, and 1.4 million tons of dissolving wood pulp.

We are investing in developing our biomaterials (nanocellulose, fibre composites and lignosulphonate) and biorefinery (second generation sugars and bio-energy) businesses.

We continue to grow into a profitable and cash-generative diversified business with an exciting future in woodfibre, a renewable resource.

For further information visit www.sappi.com

About PEFC

The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification™ (PEFC™) is a leading global alliance of national forest certification systems. As an international non-profit, non-governmental organization, it promotes sustainable forest management through independent third-party certification. PEFC provides forest owners, from the large to the small, with a tool to demonstrate their responsible practices, while empowering companies to buy sustainably. The PEFC label enables consumers to recognize products originating from a PEFC-certified forest - a forest managed in line with the strictest environmental, social and economic requirements.

For more information visit www.pefc.org