Boosting value and sustainability Sofidel

boosting ValuE and sustainabilitY

Sofidel is a global leader in the development and manufacture of tissue paper for a wide range of hygienic and domestic applications. Celebrating 50 years of growth and sustainability operations in 2016, the company annually recognises the contribution made by its key suppliers, as Philip Yorke reports.

The Sofidel Group was founded in 1966 and is now a world leader in the tissue paper production market for hygienic and domestic. This includes items such as napkins, toilet papers, kitchen paper and tissues. The group’s best known brand is ‘Regina’, which is available in many countries worldwide. From its headquarters in Porcari, Italy, Sofidel coordinates the activities of its 19 companies spread throughout Europe and the United States, which between them produce more than one million tonnes of paper each year and provide over 5500 people with employment.

The Sofidel Group’s daily operations include the creation of valueadded products that are manufactured with a dedicated commitment to the environment and an overriding respect for protecting the planet. Social responsibility is at the core of its activities and it is seen as an essential tool for promoting long-lasting and considerate development of the environmental equilibrium and the consumer’s needs of today and in the future.

Supplier contribution recognised

On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Sofidel Group, celebrated in November 2016, the company announced its latest supplier award programme: the ‘Sofidel Suppliers Sustainability Award’. This coveted annual award aims to motivate its national and international suppliers to promote the highest possible sustainability standards. It is also designed to help promote best practice in the industry and to recognise improved social and environmental responsibility at all levels of development and throughout the company’s manufacturing processes.

The award is clearly focused on the ‘Ten Principles of the Sustainable Supply Chain Self-Assessment Platform’, which has been created by the Global Compact Network Italy Foundation (the GCNI Foundation), of which Sofidel is a founding member. The self-assessment platform analyses environmental performance following these ten essential principles. Three distinct awards are assigned each year beginning with the ‘Best Supplier award’ for businesses reaching the best score on the ten-principles platform. The ‘Best Improver award’ is for businesses that have sensibly increased their results by adopting clearly focused social/ environmental and sustainable procedures, while the ‘Best Sustainable Project Award’ is for businesses that have carried out particularly effective social and/or environmental sustainable initiatives.

More than 300 of the group’s local suppliers took part in Sofidel’s award initiative and this year’s winners for the ‘Best supplier award’ were as follows: In the Pulp Producers Category – SCA Graphic Sundsvall; in the Procurement & Purchasing Category – Henkel; in the Logistics Services Category – Chep India; and in the Marketing & Sales Category – Vizeum Deutschland.

For the same categories for the ‘Best Improver Award’ were: Arauco, TMC, JC Trans (UK) and Vizeum Deutschland. For the same categories for the ‘Best Sustainable Project Award’ it was Metsa Fibre, Imball Center and Kinect Energy.

Strong growth

Strong growth continues to be a feature of the Sofidel Group’s performance, enhanced by a number of key acquisitions in the past few years. These have included the purchase of a new processing plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA, the opening of another facility in Hattiesburg (Mississippi) and the launching of the company’s first American green-field investment for the realisation of an integrated

facility in Clircleville (Ohio). With operations in seven states Sofidel is a dominant player in the US today.

The year 2015 was also an important year for the group in Europe, with the implementation of its new plants in Sweden and France. The company’s new path of growth and consolidation continues and it leads the field with its on-going commitment to sustainable and environmentally friendly production and logistics. With the acquisition of the new Swedish Tissue, a fully integrated facility was created and built into the Nordic region, a facility that until now was lacking, while the new processing plant of Ingrandes in the nearby settlement of Buxeuil has created the conditions for an entirely new integrated facility.

Today Sofidel is entering its fourth phase of organic growth, which in the European market tends to remain steady and will essentially increase the production of its existing European sites. Many of the group’s sites, for example in Poland, UK, Germany and Spain, have been designed and built to be expanded and have sufficient space to be doubled and in some cases tripled in size and capacity.

As far as greenhouse gas emissions are concerned, the Sofidel Group has relaunched its commitment to the WWF Climate Savers Programme by setting new, broader objectives for 2020. These include achieving -23 per cent of direct emissions reductions, 13 per cent of indirect emissions and 8 per cent of the use of renewable sources on the total amount of fuel consumed annually.

For further details of the Sofidel Group’s latest innovative products, awards, sustainability programmes and services visit: www.sofidel.com