SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT
‘I am proud to say that we have developed some innovative products with environmental credentials… These are proving to be popular options for customers who are adapting their supply chains to address environmental concerns.’
Tom Park
Managing Director and
Chief Executive Officer
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S
COMMENT
Our seven PaperlinX Values were developed with intensive input from across the Company, then launched this year. They define what is special about PaperlinX, as well as our aspirations for improvement and the behaviours that will get us there. Naturally, sustainability is a core value of the Group and one that our people are committed to building upon.
Driving Sustainability Further
Sustainability reflects our commitment to social and environmental responsibility and to our employees, as follows:
- Prioritising the safety and wellbeing of our people.
- Attracting and retaining the best people.
- Promoting a work and life balance.
- Acting with integrity and honesty with all stakeholders.
- Delivering financial success.
- Demonstrating environmental leadership.
Traditionally, sustainability has been applied separately to our operational efforts (how we run the business) and commercial efforts (the products and services we provide). We have appointed a Sustainability Director in Europe and created the Sustainability Affinity Group to assist with this challenge. Now, we are working to align our efforts around the world by launching regional corporate responsibility (CR) platforms that reflect an overarching commitment to social and environmental responsibility and to employees.
Managing Carbon and Other Environmental Impacts
Our Australian paper manufacturing operations are an energy-intensive business, using 90 per cent of our global electricity consumption, making it our greatest carbon impact. Over the past seven years, we have reduced our CO2 emissions per tonne of paper by 23 per cent. The Australian Government is now committed to introducing a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. PaperlinX is actively involved in the consultative process. We support such a scheme, provided the international competitiveness of such carbon-intensive trade-exposed industries as pulp and paper manufacturing can be maintained throughout the cycle, and carbon and jobs are not leaked offshore unnecessarily.
Paper consumption has become an obvious focus for businesses wanting to reduce not only environmental impacts, but also costs. A widely held opinion is that paper is not environmentally acceptable because its production requires the harvesting of trees. This neglects the fact that forestry today can be carried out sustainably and responsibly, giving us a renewable natural product that can be recycled. So we now have a range of environmental certifications (e.g. FSC, PEFC, SFI) for our merchanting and manufacturing operations, to reassure our customers, the public and our employees that our fibre sources are sustainable.
We believe that paper is fundamentally a good product, but we can do more to manage the waste it produces and the carbon emissions involved in its production. I am proud to say that we have developed some innovative products with environmental credentials such as Australia’s first carbon-neutral paper range, ENVI™ and a closed-loop paper supply, delivery and recycling system in the UK called yoyo.™ These are proving to be popular options for customers who are adapting their supply chains to address environmental concerns. This is where our combined industry experience and leadership can truly contribute to global environmental improvements.
Caring About our People
Encouraging such new ideas and innovative solutions will drive our business success. So we are developing ways to improve the diversity of our workforce in areas such as gender, education and work experience. Our training and development programmes are improving people’s skills and expertise. And we have made good progress in supporting the personal safety and health of all our people by launching the HealthLinX programme and further improving our safety performance over the last 12 months.
I thank everyone involved in contributing to our progress on addressing many difficult sustainability issues over the last year and look forward to receiving your views and comments on this report.
Thomas P Park
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer