Looking Toward a Greener Tomorrow: Sustainable Actions Across the Paper Trade Industry

As we celebrate World Environmental Day on June 5, it's the perfect moment to reflect on our shared responsibility toward sustainability, especially within industries that have a significant environmental footprint. The paper trade sector holds a crucial position in this discourse, with paper products being a universal part of our daily lives, from the books we read to the packaging we discard. To delve deeper into this topic, we reached out to NPTA members who are making a difference: Alain Villemure, vice president at Lecta; Renée Yardley, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Sustana; and Jeff Pfister, vice president of sales and commercial operations at Veritiv, to shed light on their sustainability efforts.

1. What is your company’s number one sustainability initiative?

Alain Villemure (AV): At Lecta, sustainability is not just a goal but a guiding principle.

Lecta recognizes the importance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and supports 11 goals out of 17, which have been identified as most relevant where the group has the largest impact through its operations and products.

Lecta has set targets and defined key performance indicators (KPIs) for its sustainability work. Progress is regularly monitored at group level. Consolidated results on the group’s performance are reported annually.

We are committed to protecting the environment through responsible business practices, environmental investments and the pursuit of innovative solutions based on natural, renewable raw materials.

One of the most relevant targets is carbon footprint reduction. Aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) methodology, Lecta has committed to ambitious reduction goals, setting targets for a 45% decrease in Scope 1 and 2 emissions and a 35% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2030 versus 2021 baseline.

Renée Yardley (RY): At Sustana, we understand that sustainability is an evolving journey that requires continuous growth and improvement to consistently outpace the advancing benchmark of sustainability excellence.

We view sustainability not only as an impact goal but also central to the growth of our business.

Sustainability is our core, our key ingredient and primary deliverable to our customers.

As we strive to lead by example and inspire more companies to adopt sustainable business practices, we recognize that the benchmarks for sustainability will continue to advance. This dynamic landscape motivates us to remain at the forefront of sustainability, attracting prospects and partners who share our values, thereby fueling our growth.

Our main goal on this journey is to lead the transformative redesign of clean materials, and sustainability is the main driver of our growth.

Jeff Pfister (JP): Sustainability is both a responsibility and an opportunity at Veritiv to drive growth, profitability and long-term value while leaving a lighter footprint on the planet. Veritiv’s sustainability mission is to collaborate with our customers and suppliers to create healthier, safer and more sustainable communities through our responsible operations and the expertise of our diverse teams who deliver innovative solutions. This past year we focused on reducing Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions across our operations, enhancing our Environmental Management System to align with ISO 14001 standards while also optimizing our waste diversion and recycling programs. In 2021, we established a goal to reduce our total Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to our 2020 baseline.

We have many sustainability initiatives, but when it comes to print and paper products, we focus on our Chain of Custody (CoC) certifications and our procurement processes. Customers rely on our knowledge of forest certification standards to make choosing, buying and using CoC-certified papers easy. Our extensive offering and huge variety of certified papers mean there are certified options available for every taste and budget. Since we can source globally, we also have to be knowledgeable of the various environmental rules and regulations globally and ensure the mills we do business with are aligned with our approach to sustainability, while also leaving a lighter footprint on the planet. Veritiv sells products certified to the following CoC Certifications: Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).

2. What are specific examples of innovative approaches or technologies your company is implementing to reduce its environmental impact?

AV: Regarding energy, we are steadfast in our commitment to increasing the consumption of renewable or carbon-free energy sources, aiming for a 50% increase by 2030 compared to nearly zero in 2021. Our ongoing energy optimization and generation initiatives focus on leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as refuse-derived fuel (RDF) boilers, steam turbines and other advancements to enhance efficiency throughout our production lines.

We recognize the importance of adopting responsible business practices that contribute to environmental conservation and sustainable development, and this is why we focus our research and development strategy, where feasible, to align with circular economy principles. In this regard, we have integrated circularity into our business strategy, focusing on the development of functional products that promote recycling, reducing environmental impacts by reducing waste.

Lecta's commitment to the environment is evident, which is why we constantly strive to innovate and incorporate sustainability features into our products, such as recyclability, the use of recycled fibers or the reduction of chemicals, and 30 out of the 40 new products launched in 2023 have additional sustainability characteristics.

RY: Sustana’s vision extends beyond the recycled content in our paper-based sustainable solutions; we embrace a circular economy mindset where sustainability and value creation coexist. Not only do we invest in specialized equipment, develop innovative proprietary systems and put serious thought into our impact at every stage of our product’s life cycle, we are deeply committed to safety, equity and diversity.

As we move forward, we continue to innovate, collaborate and lead the way in sustainable business practices, ensuring that sustainability remains at the heart of everything we do, for the betterment of our planet and future generations.

For example, we are a vertically integrated business, with three business units: recovery, fiber and paper that operate in a very circular manner. We source primarily from what we like to call the urban forest, and this is where our eight recovery facilities source high-grade wastepaper sustainably and responsibly. The recovered paper then goes to our two fiber mills, which produce 100% sustainable recycled fiber for a broad range of paper, tissue and food packaging applications, such as coffee cups and containers. Our paper mill manufactures top-quality sustainable recycled paper to the highest environmental standard for direct mail, brochures, magazines and books, just to name a few.

Another example is how we evaluate the environmental impact of our product. We regularly conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of our products, to determine our impact on factors such as climate change, water use and ozone depletion. This then guides our technical teams to design the products with the least environmental impact. We also have an approved Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) target of 42% absolute emissions reduction of Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 from a 2021 baseline. We are on track to meet this target by sourcing renewable electricity for all our sites and investing in energy-efficient equipment.

JP: Our passion for uncovering and solving problems extends to every area of our business, including sustainability. Veritiv not only works to reduce our own environmental impact, but more importantly, we prioritize helping our customers meet their sustainability goals. In addition to offering over 43,000 products with sustainable attributes, we also offer environmental assessments, resources and seminars to help customers implement sustainable business practices. Recently, we introduced an improved EcoScore® sustainability tool for customers. EcoScore provides a visual dashboard and in-depth information regarding the sustainable products and attributes Veritiv sells to a customer. This helps our customers to gain insights on purchase patterns and history, track the percentage of spend on sustainable items and measure progress toward sustainability goals. Veritiv also offers a Sustainability Micro Credentialing Program, an intense six-week sustainability training that covers various topics, including sustainable product design, LCA and the Spectrum of Recovery, providing a broad knowledge base. This helps Veritiv advise and help customers throughout their sustainability journey. In addition to providing customers with sustainable products and services, Veritiv has also taken innovative approaches to reduce our own environmental impact including:

• Modernizing our delivery fleet for fuel efficiency in addition to expanding the use of renewable diesel fuels to ~15% of our total U.S. fleet.
• Having ten distribution centers with LEED or Energy Star certifications.
• Purchasing renewable energy certificates to fully offset the Scope 2 emissions from electricity used in our Houston and Dallas facilities for 36 months.
• Implementing a near-zero landfill initiative at our Norcross, GA facility, and in 2023 we were able to achieve a 93% diversion rate.

Veritiv was awarded a Bronze Medal from EcoVadis, which recognizes companies that have completed an assessment process and demonstrated a strong management system addressing key sustainability criteria. Our values are focused on integrity and shaping success with our customers as one team. We ensure our operations and manufacturing partners across all business units are aligned with those values.

3. In your view, what is the future of sustainability in the paper trade industry, and what steps are necessary to achieve that vision?

AV: Paper, derived from renewable resources, offers the potential for production methods that minimize environmental impact and enable efficient recycling post-use. As an industry, we acknowledge our environmental impact both locally and globally.

The industry is firmly addressing the most relevant environmental challenges such as CO2 emissions, water and energy consumption and the responsible origin of wood. These challenges need commitment, investment and innovation and can be mitigated through initiatives such as closed-loop systems for water recycling, the optimization of energy consumption through the use of the best available technologies and the development of new products that allow, for example, more recyclable packaging materials.

RY: Sustainability will be the number one growth driver for the paper trade industry. For example, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition recently published a report on sustainable packaging trends, and the number one trend is “the paperization of everything.”

To realize this vision, collaboration is crucial. Moving forward, Sustana aims to establish and grow partnerships that support sustainability efforts and create innovative circular solutions. Our dedication is evident in our work with customers who have specific sustainability goals and targets.

JP: Sustainability can mean a lot of different things, but when it comes to the paper trade industry there are three key areas where we can play a bigger role: improving paper circularity, providing greater transparency to the environmental impact and innovation in both products and supply chains.

Improving Circularity: Paper comes from a renewable resource that can be recovered and recycled four to seven times. In the future, I would like to see us all working together to keep paper in the circularity circle. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2018, 17.2 million tons of paper and paperboard ended up in the landfill. As a distributor we have multiple touchpoints in the circularity process and there is an opportunity to take action at these touchpoints to help divert paper and paperboard from landfills.

Provide Greater Transparency: We can help source responsibly, from mills focused on reducing their carbon footprint and producing paper from legally sourced and sustainably managed forests, but we need the industry to act in the same manner. Environmentally preferable paper includes clean production, the efficient use of energy, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, reducing processed water and minimizing waste—all of which leads to a smaller carbon footprint. Creating visibility into this is a role that distributors should be playing, and Veritiv is on a path to obtaining and measuring our Scope 3 emissions which will give our customers more transparency into their environmental impact and help shape their sourcing practices for the better.

Product and Supply Chain Innovation: I’d like to see the paper industry continue to look for renewable sources of raw materials. We are driving our customers to select products based on their sustainability attributes. I’d like to see additional innovation here. A current example of this is wood that is fast growing, requiring significantly less time to mature. For this reason, we have a new paper that we are bringing to market made of 100% eucalyptus trees and is FSC certified. I also see opportunities in optimizing the supply chain to reduce environmental impacts. With greater opportunity to both purchase and recycle locally, we would see reduced costs, faster delivery of products and greater availability. Our North American recycling infrastructure could benefit from our support and greater investment.