Water Resilience

Working as water stewards

We are committed to acting as responsible stewards of water — reducing our water consumption and improving the quality of the water we return to the environment.

Water is essential to all life, and just as vital to our business. It nurtures our trees, supports pulp and paper production, and drives steam generation in our mills. We recognise that water stewardship is not only an operational necessity, but also a strategic imperative that’s critical to our long-term success and financial sustainability.

Sappi’s Group Water Stewardship Policy reinforces our commitment to this vital resource. It acknowledges access to clean water and sanitation as a fundamental human right, as recognised by the United Nations General Assembly. The policy also recognises that our operations have an impact on primary water sources—such as rivers and dams—as well as the environments where treated wastewater is discharged.

As climate change intensifies the stress on water globally, our policy underscores the need to build long-term resilience by adopting best practices and a precautionary approach to water use.

Water is an extremely vital local resource, and Sappi's strategy is tailored to respect the unique conditions of the areas where we operate. We gather and analyse data and feedback at the site level to fully understand our water impacts. Tools like the WWF water risk assessment help us gain insights into local watershed health, including baseline water stress to guide our programmes.
 

Our Approach

Our approach to water stewardship entails regular monitoring and transparent reporting of key water metrics, ongoing evaluation and adoption of innovative water-related technologies and engagement with stakeholders to ensure that responsible water management is embedded across all levels of our organisation.

In Our Mills

• All operate under comprehensive environmental permits that define strict parameters for water use and wastewater quality.
• All operate with environmental management systems certified according to internationally recognised standards.
• We use Elemental Chlorine-Free (ECF) or Totally Chlorine-Free (TCF) bleaching processes to minimise environmental impact.
• We enhance water efficiency by increasing reuse and recirculation within our mills, significantly reducing the need for freshwater.
• We implement water-focused projects aimed at either reducing overall consumption or improving the quality of discharged water.
  
   

On Our Lands

• We apply sustainable forest management practices to conserve and protect water resources.
• We conducted detailed scenario analyses of our plantations in South Africa to assess water stress levels.
• We implemented measures to minimise and prevent soil erosion.
• We apply responsible harvesting and extraction practices to reduce runoff risk.
• Our plantations use little to no irrigation, and fertiliser use is kept to a minimum to protect surrounding ecosystems.