Sappi Fine Paper North America Publishes 2012 Sustainability Report

BOSTON, Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sappi Fine Paper North America announced today the release of its 2012 Sustainability Report, the company's second annual regional report focusing on the company's strong sustainability performance in North America over the past few years.

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Demonstrating how sustainable development is fundamental to Sappi's business strategy, the publication reports on our continued commitments to achieving strategic goals in sustainability, which extend beyond our mill gates to local communities, customers and industry partners.

"Sustainability is a catalyst for growth and over the past five years, we have achieved considerable progress towards our long-term goals," said Jennifer Miller, executive vice president of coated business and chief sustainability officer. "It is this vision that drives our core business strategy, one that recognizes that financial success can only be achieved when operations and sustainability work hand-in-hand to ensure a more profitable future."

The Next Five-Year Goals (2012-2016)
Building on the company's baseline achievements, Sappi's goals for the next five years continue to focus on people, planet and prosperity with increased drive to further improvements:

People

• Target 30,000 hours 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 hours per employee annually

Planet

• Increase the level of certified fiber across all operations 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%

Prosperity

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

"Our company reputation is built on providing quality products, services, and the commitment to make sustainability a priority across all operations," said Laura Thompson, director of technical marketing and sustainable development. "Our performance against these strategic goals enables us to improve profitability, grow our market presence, and meet the evolving needs of our customers every day."

Promoting Sustainability Through Social Responsibility and Community Outreach
In support of the recently published 2012 Sustainability Report, Sappi has also expanded its efforts to promote sustainable practices through social responsibility and community outreach programs.

Among its most recent initiatives, Sappi has lead the conversation on sustainability as a founding member of GreenBlue's Forest Products Working Group, an organization addressing challenges in the forest products sector, and as a founding member of Two Sides, an educational outreach organization dedicated to raising awareness of responsible paper production.

A few community engagement programs geared to educate the public about sustainability, also detailed in the 2012 Sustainability Report, include Sappi's inaugural Green Community Day event and its partnership with Living Lands & Waters for River Quest. These initiatives reflect the company culture built on education, integrity, and respect.

For more information, please see Sappi Fine Paper North America's 2012 Sustainability Report.

About Sappi Fine Paper North America
Sappi Fine Paper North America, known for innovation and quality, is a preeminent North American producer of coated fine and release papers and market pulp headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Its coated fine papers, with highly recognized brand names such as McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are used in premium magazines, catalogs, books and high-end print advertising. The company is also the world's leading supplier of release papers for the automotive, fashion and engineered films industries, including the globally recognized Ultracast brand. Sappi's release papers provide the surface aesthetics for synthetic fabrics used in footwear, clothing, upholstery and accessories, as well as the textures for decorative laminates found in kitchens, baths, flooring and other decorative surfaces. An integrated pulp and paper producer, with state-of-the-art pulp mills, Sappi is the third largest seller of hardwood pulp in North America.

Sappi Fine Paper North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited (NYSE, JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with over 14,000 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven countries and customers in over 100 countries around the world. Learn more about Sappi at: www.sappi.com/na.

SOURCE Sappi Fine Paper North America