The challenge

Retaining the maximum value inherent in products at every level through many cycles is the key challenge for circularity.

The opportunity

By embracing circular thinking we can produce less waste, lower costs and reduce environmental impact.

The roadmap

Manufacturing products from renewable resources is the core of our business and central to our commitment to the circular economy. Through research and development, practical innovation and new product development, we continually create new products, solutions and value from natural resources.

The stakeholders

Sappi, informal waste collectors and other suppliers, all South Africans.

Our actions

• Ngodwana and Tugela Mills each use approximately 17% recovered paper and board. Much of this is supplied by Sappi ReFibre, our secondary fibre division, which sources used paper products from an extensive network of agents across the Southern African region as well as from waste producers. The recovered board and paper are used to supplement virgin fibre in the manufacturing of packaging paper grades.
• Stanger Mill uses a certain percentage of bagasse (sugar cane waste residue) in the manufacture of office paper and tissue wadding.
• Sappi business units participated in a swap shop initiative, where pre-loved goods were exchanged and sold.
• Projects with links to both SDG6: Clean Water and Sanitation and SDG12: Responsible Consumption and Production:
  - Ngodwana Mill identified the potential to use a non-hazardous chemical in the oxygen reactor to preserve the pulp    viscosity, thereby enabling the use of the available lower density timber for customers who require higher pulp    viscosity. This initiative also enabled the use of less chlorine dioxide in the bleaching process which in turn reduced the    formation of adsorbable organic halides by approximately 30% compared with the longer-term average.
  - Recognising that efficient pulp washing ensures recovery of valuable chemicals and lower bleaching additives, at the    mill’s DP plant, wash presses were retrofitted with enhanced dewatering devices. This has reduced wastewater losses    and led to savings in bleaching chemicals.
  

Performance against our Thrive25 target aligned with SDG12:

Responsible Consumption and Production

Thrive25 target	2019 base	2022 target	2022 performance	Assessment of performance
Launch five products with defined sustainability benefits	0	1	0
Reduce specific landfilled solid waste by 24%	153 kg/adt	101.2 kg/adt	121.5 kg/adt
Promote sustainable growth in our plantations > 4 (annual growth in million tons)	3.96	> 4.0	4.14