Sustainable strength Sofidel

SUSTAINABLE STRENGTH

Sofidel is a privately held Italian company that has grown to become a global leader in the manufacture of tissue paper for a broad range of applications. The company’s success is based on a number of key factors that include a dedicated commitment to sustainability, innovation and strategic acquisitions. Philip Yorke reports on a company that continues to set new sustainability standards and gain market share worldwide.

The Sofidel Group was founded in Italy in1966 and is now a major global player in the tissue paper production market for hygienic and domestic products. The company’s product portfolio includes toilet paper, napkins, kitchen paper, handkerchiefs and tissues. From its headquarters in Porccari, Italy, Sofidel coordinates the activities of its 19 subsidiary companies located throughout Europe and the United States. Together these plants produce more than one million tonnes of paper each year. The group’s paper mills are designed for the production of tissue paper parent reels, and paper converting plants that make a range of finished products. It also operates fully integrated plants for paper conversion, as well as modern offices that cover sales, logistics and customer services.

Rewarding sustainability

For the second year running, the group has hosted its special Sofidel Suppliers Sustainability award. This was created to recognise and reward the most eco-friendly partners in the group’s supply chain for their commitment to the environmental and social welfare considerations.

This important award ceremony was held in London and presented by the group to its suppliers who have distinguished themselves through their efforts towards a more eco-friendly and sustainable future. The award ceremony was designed to encourage, spread and build on best practice and the improvement activities carried out by the group’s suppliers each year. Almost 400 suppliers from Europe and North America took part in the hugely successful Sofidel Supplier awards in London.

“Promoting sustainable and responsible growth also means that within our vision, we are raising awareness and promoting the involvement of our partners so that we can do more and do it better,” said Luigi Lazzareschi, CEO of the Sofitel Group. “We’re convinced that building a sustainable future involves a widespread, common commitment, and a need to support each player within their area and according to their role, to embrace new and better responsibilities.”

Sofidel has instituted three distinct award categories. Best Supplier, Best Improver and Best Sustainable Project. The Best Supplier is for companies that have achieved the highest score according to the TenP platform. The award winners were: Pulp Producers Category – Sulzano Pulp and Paper Europe; procurement and purchasing – Valmet; Logistics Services – Kuehne + Nagel; Marketing and Sales – Vizeum Deutschlasnd GmbH.

Best Improver was awarded to companies that have made the greatest improvement to their results by undertaking new environmen-

tal and social sustainability procedures. The award winners were: Pulp Producers – Zellstoff und Paperfabrik Rosenthal GmbH; Procurement and Purchasing – Windsor Engineering (Hull) Ltd; Logistics services – LK Walter Int Transportation AG.

The Best Sustainable Project accolade is for companies that have implemented particularly important environmental and social responsibility initiatives. The award winners were: Large Enterprises – Fibra Int. Trade GmbH and Sklark Packaging Int; Medium/Small enterprises – Dasara Transport SpA and Group SGP.

Sofidel has always focused on sustainability as a strategic lever for its development and growth, setting itself the goal of reducing the environmental impact to a minimum and maximising benefits for society.

Sustainable mobility

In another ‘first’, Sofidel has teamed up with Nissan to help deliver greater sustainable mobility. The first corporate car-sharing service through a Nissan management platform based on an app named ‘Glide’ was activated with four Nissan LEAF vehicles and eight electric charging stations in Sofidel plants in Italy to support employees’ corporate and private needs.

Sofidel is the first private business in Italy to adopt a car-sharing system based on a Nissan-owned management platform using the ‘Glide’ app, which allows simple geo-location of vehicle and quick identification of their availability. As part of the original agreement with Nissan Italia through a Nissan CFL Dealer, Sofidel employees can also take advantage of specific incentives for purchasing electric cars from the same company, together with the possibility of recharging the vehicle in the two plants free of charge for a year.

Building on success

Sofidel’s success in North America has been underscored by its recent strategic decision to make a major investment in a new manufacturing facility at a greenfield site in Oklahoma. The state-ofthe-art integrated plant will provide both tissue production equipment and converting facilities. It will be located in Inola, Rogers County near the town of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thanks to its south-central position in the US, the location offers well-established logistics connections, as well as affordable sources of energy and an expert local workforce.

“I am glad to announce this new greenfield investment – the second one, after the first that we made in Ohio. This new investment will support our growth in the USA significantly, especially as the American market is one of the crucial ones for our group,” added Luigi Lazzareschi, CEO of the Sofidel Group.

This major investment includes the installation of two advanced tissue paper machines with an overall production capacity of over 120,000 tonnes per year each, in addition to the related converting lines. One of the machines will be dedicated mainly to the production of toilet tissue, whilethe second one will be used to produce paper towels.

In total, Sofidel is committed to investing more than $360 million over three years between 2018–2020 and the new facility will be completed early in 2020. When completed, the plant will employ over 300 full-time workers. n

For further details of Sofidel’s innovative products and services visit: www.sofidel.com