The PROMISE of PAPER

GD: Upon closing the deal, integration has been progressing smoothly and the transition has been seamless for our customers.

OPI: What are Sylvamo’s plans for the mill?

Sylvamo’s acquisition of Stora Enso’s paper mill in Nymölla, Sweden, not only tripled the vendor’s uncoated paper capacity in Europe, but it also brought into the family a facility with exceptional environmental credentials.

OPI spoke to Gerald Demets, Sylvamo’s Commercial Director, Uncoated Wood-free Paper and Pulp Europe, about what the mill brings to the table and how it will advance the vendor’s sustainability journey.

OPI: You completed the purchase of the Nymölla mill in January this year. What does this facility add to Sylvamo’s portfolio?

Gerald Demets: Nymölla, which produces cut size papers, business forms, digital papers and offset, with two pulp lines and two paper machines, has an excellent environmental footprint. It complements our purpose to produce paper in the most responsible and sustainable ways.

This addition brings together talented teams, iconic brands, world-class operations and a shared commitment to health, safety and sustainability. The Nymölla mill strengthens our product mix and enables us to better serve our customers across Europe.

OPI: How far down the track are you now in terms of integrating the mill into your global paper business?

GD: Our goal is to enhance what we offer European customers. We are excited about the opportunities the mill brings and the benefits it will provide to our customers.

OPI: How does this strengthened footprint fit into Sylvamo’s CSR strategy? How does Nymölla compare to your other European mill in Saillat, France, for example?

GD: As a general statement, Sylvamo’s environmental strategy aims to respond to the high expectations of European customers for corporate social responsibility. One aspect of this is to ensure our mills have excellent sustainability credentials. In that regard, Nymölla is a perfect fit.

Our Saillat operation you refer to has equally outstanding credentials, but the two are not necessarily comparable as they produce different types of pulp based on the locally available wood species.

That said, both mills prioritise using renewable energy sources, with 85% of their energy consumption coming from biomass residuals. They also benefit from low carbon grid electricity in France and Sweden. These mills have a long history of operating sustainably and have been ISO 14001 certified for their environmental management system –since 1996 for Saillat and 1997 for Nymölla. To increase energy efficiency, Nymölla has also had an ISO 50001 energy management system in place since 2015, while Saillat will receive this certification later this year.

Both mills have FSC, PEFC and EU Ecolabel paper certifications. Due to its location, Nymölla is also Nordic Swan certified.

OPI: Please tell me a bit about Sylvamo’s overall CSR outlook.

GD: We are committed to the long-term health of our entire ecosystem. This includes the forests we love, the communities we live in and the customers who rely on our paper.

Our 2030 goals best represent this commitment to environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Later this year, we will publish our first sustainability report offering even more transparency.

To ensure consistency, we are working to harmonise all CSR efforts between the two mills. This approach will help us to better communicate our sustainability endeavours to all stakeholders which include customers, employees and local communities.

OPI: Let’s talk about your brands. How do they reflect your strategy?

GD: Sylvamo’s four strategic brands in Europe – REY, Multicopy, HP Papers and PRO DESIGN – fit perfectly with our mission to transform renewable resources into papers that people depend on for education, communication and entertainment.

Our brands play a critical role in our 2030 goals to operate environmentally responsibly and provide customers with high-quality products.

OPI: What specifically do these brands bring to the table?

GD: We believe in the power of paper to educate, communicate and entertain. Paper connects us to one another and is an enduring bond to renewable, natural resources.

Our brands represent the fact that the future of paper deserves a company committed to the success of the entire ecosystem. As I said before – from the forests we love, to the communities where we live and the people who rely on our paper. The well-being of each of these components depends on the well-being of them all.

REY, for instance, partners with the annual Telethon in France and the National Literacy Trust in the UK to promote childhood education and literacy to equip the next generation with the necessary tools and resources to achieve their full potential. (Editor’s note: Sylvamo won Initiative of the Year at the European Office Products Awards in March for its 2022 Comics Rule! campaign with the National Literacy Trust – see EOPA review on page 38)

HP Papers has an annual campaign to fight breast cancer with proceeds of its HP Pink Ream donated to organisations which work towards breast cancer awareness, prevention and treatment. The initiative makes a considerable difference to the lives of women affected by the disease. Multicopy, meanwhile, works with Nordics energy company Gasum to promote sustainable energy solutions.

All these brands have a very active role to play in terms of highlighting our strategy and achieving our goals.

OPI: How do you remain innovative, particularly in extremely challenging times?

GD: By constantly listening and responding to feedback from end-users and distribution partners. If we do that, we can identify opportunities for innovation that make a real difference in the marketplace.

It’s worth pointing out that there is more to office products than just the products themselves. How they are packaged and presented is important too. During the pandemic, we developed the three-ream box for people suddenly working from home, for instance. It is an excellent example of how we respond to our customers’ changing needs.

OPI: Are you positive about the future?

GD: We are. We successfully navigated many challenges since becoming an independent, publicly traded company. Sylvamo is committed to its vision of being the employer, supplier and investment of choice. The key to success is agility and the ability to react quickly to meet the needs of our team members, customers and investors.