Domtar's Sustainability Report Highlights a Better Future

Statement by Domtar (Canada) released this week:

The new report highlights our progress and challenges toward 2020 goals in our three focus areas: Responsibility across our supply chain, including sustainable forestry principles to ensure the health of forestlands; Efficiency in our manufacturing, to minimize the negative environmental effects of our operations; and Engagement with a variety of stakeholders.

“We have long shared a similar belief,” says John D. Williams, Domtar’s president and CEO. “We and our investors care about how efficiently we use natural resources in our manufacturing, how we support our communities, how we have reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and how we develop our employees and keep them safe. We believe that caring about our environment, our communities and our people helps us better meet our business objectives and deliver returns for the long term.”

“We believe transparency – about both the achievements and the challenges – serves both our interests and the public’s interest well,” Williams says. “Not surprising, since they are intertwined. The interests of our customers, investors, employees and neighbors are more similar than dissimilar.”

• Here are some of the highlights of our sustainability story, based on our performance in 2018:
• 38 percent of the fiber procured for our pulp and paper mills was certified, including 21 percent from Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®)-certified sources.
• 19 percent reduction in waste to landfill from pulp and paper mills since 2013, while beneficially using 69 percent of the manufacturing byproducts generated.
• 72 percent of the energy used in our pulp and paper mills came from renewable biomass fuels, along with self-generating an equivalent of 72 percent of the electricity they used.
• 15 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions at pulp and paper mills since 2010.
• 2 percent reduction in water use at pulp and paper mills since 2014.
• Completed development of our full-cost-of-water model and began using it in project approvals to further support water and energy conservation efforts.
• 57 percent reduction in our recordable safety incident rate since 2008, to 0.74.
• Expanded our EarthChoice® Ambassador program to 30 locations in four countries, covering 86 percent of our facilities.
• $2.5 million invested in our communities, focused on literacy, health and wellness, and sustainability.
• 13,800+ hours contributed by our employees at Domtar-sponsored events in our communities.

TAPPI
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