Jakarta, 29 June 2022 – Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) Sinar Mas has been named the most sustainable company within the pulp & paper industry by World Finance Magazine at its annual World Finance Sustainability Awards. The Awards are designed to recognize organizations across a wide variety of sectors that have shown outstanding sustainability leadership, including successfully demonstrating commercial insights and market integrity across Economic, Environmental, and Social pillars.
APP was selected from among hundreds of companies for displaying an alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement, CDP standards, UN Global Compact and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Core to this strategy is the company’s Sustainability Roadmap Vision (SRV) and Forest Conservation Policy (FCP) which underscores a zero-deforestation pledge. This vision focuses on the three distinct categories of Production, Forests and People.
Fundamental to helping the company achieve its SRV is a focus on investing in and adopting state-of-the-art technology that draws on real-time data collection and resting on eagle-eyed satellite imaging. APP turned to Canadian satellite surveillance and intelligence provider MDA, in a partnership where MDA’s RADARSAT-2 satellite is deployed to capture forest change.
Possessing the world’s highest imaging capacity and footprint at a resolution that is sensitive enough to detect selective logging, RADARSAT-2 is able to image more than 500 million square kilometers every month. This allows for reliable, frequent, and routine detection of subtle forest changes, so that APP can capture forest disturbances down to a few trees and proactively address the forest cover change in near-real-time.
APP’s 38 pulpwood concessions on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra are re-imaged every 24 days in a continuous manner, and routinely within two working days of imaging, APP will receive fully quality-controlled vectorised alerts of the forest disturbance anywhere within the areas being monitored. By combining the near real-time alerts with other in-house information, the APP team is able to determine and implement necessary and targeted measures to reduce threats to its supplier plantations and address the environmental risks associated with illegal forest clearance. This has resulted in a significant reduction of forest degradation, dropping from between 5-6% on average in 2013-2015 to under 1% across its concession area of 600,00 plus hectares.
Sustainability is at the core of what we do and is embedded across all aspects of our business strategy and communities inclusive. It is an infinite journey and one that entails continuous improvement, said Elim Sritaba, APP’s Chief Sustainability Officer. ‘’It is not only about business operations and efficiencies, but one that integrates caring for the people, their livelihoods and the environment we live in, protecting the rich biodiversity, sourcing and producing products sustainably, and investing in people, technology and innovation. We are both honored and humbled to receive such prestigious recognition, which provides both validation and motivation to build and deliver upon our ongoing sustainability vision," Ms Sritaba added.
This award follows closely on the back of APP’s top ranking by UK-based not-for-profit organization CDP for Environmental Performance. Widely regarded as the gold standard of environmental reporting, CDP gave APP an A- grading for the Forest category, surpassing that of the industry for its overall environmental performance and marking the third time APP had received top grading in CDP’s Forest category, following similar achievements in 2017 and 2018. APP also received a B grade for Climate Change and Water Security.
“In deciding to award APP with the Most Sustainable Company Award for the pulp and paper industry, the judging panel took into account the company’s overall environmental impact and responsible approach towards its employees, the various communities in which it has a significant presence in, and the environment. It was apparent that APP continues to not just take industry leadership within all its sustainability efforts across its entire business, but remain true and steadfast towards achieving the sustainability targets set under its Sustainability Roadmap Vision,” said Monika Wojcik, Head of Special Projects, World Finance Magazine.
APP joins a distinguished list of winners including Audi, Astra Zeneca and Syngenta. To learn more about the 2021 Sustainability Awards, visit www.worldfinance.com/magazine.
World News Media, the parent company of World Finance, is a leading publisher of quality financial and business magazines, and enjoys a global distribution network that includes subscriber lists of prominent decision-makers around the world.
About Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) Sinar Mas
Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) Sinar Mas is a trade name of pulp and paper manufacturing companies that delivers quality products to meet the growing global demand for tissue, packaging and paper. APP Sinar Mas’ products are marketed in more than 150 countries across six continents.
As a sustainable and responsible business, we create products and operate with care for our employees, society and the environment. We do this by leveraging technology and innovation, partnering the community and adhering to international business and operating standards across our production and supply chain.
We subscribe to the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles and our Sustainability Roadmap Vision 2030 guides us in fulfilling our commitment to protect forests, support communities, conserve biodiversity and achieve carbon neutrality across our operations by 2030.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Letchumi Achanah
Head of Strategic Engagement & Advocacy
Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) Sinar Mas
T: +6012 392 5343
E: [email protected]
