Decarbonisation

Sappi's engagement with Tier 1 raw material suppliers on GHG emissions is a key way of gaining deeper understanding of our products' overall carbon footprint. It helps us to identify where hard-to-abate emissions lie, uncover opportunities for value chain abatement, and work with suppliers on their product and process innovations that help reduce the CO2 of our products. Sappi started its new supplier engagement campaign in early 2024, further building on our approach to managing Scope 3 emissions hand-in-hand with our suppliers in their own decarbonisation efforts.  

Sappi Europe’s decarbonisation projects have been pivotal in reducing the carbon footprint of mills, as well as driving operational efficiencies and cost savings. This transition not only reduces reliance on fossil fuels and mitigates climate change; it also enhances the value of renewable resources (e.g. biomass, sustainable forestry products) that are central to a circular bioeconomy. In a circular bioeconomy, where materials are designed to be reused, recycled or returned to nature safely, decarbonisation further enables this circular approach by ensuring that energy and resource inputs are as low-impact as possible. 

In May 2024, Sappi Southern Africa (SSA) achieved a significant milestone by signing a 175 GWh per annum renewable energy Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Enpower Trading, one of the pioneer private electricity trading companies licensed by NERSA (National Energy Regulator of South Africa). This enables SSA to reduce emissions by 6%; power delivery scheduled to start end December 2025. This agreement marks a groundbreaking first-of-its-kind PPA, allowing Enpower Trading to provide Sappi with a utility-scale renewable power solution over the next five years.  

The joint venture Mkomazi Alien Fuels at Sappi's Saiccor Mill incorporates an ZAR80million biomass pellet manufacturing plant which uses wood shavings and other wood waste left over from the mill's manufacturing processes. It aims to avoid 57,000 tons of annual landfill waste, averting 322,000 tons of CO2 emissions over a 10-year period. It will also avert 62,457 tons of CO2 emissions annually through fossil fuel substitution. The project will create 68 full-time and 49 part-time jobs in local communities.  

With the launch of the Sappi Chair in Climate Change and Plantation Sustainability at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2023, Professor Mary Scholes has focused, among other things, on enhancing the capacity to interpret climate modelling data. This addresses the global demand for accurate GHG emissions accounting from forests, land and agriculture.