Sofidel’s second Suppliers Sustainability Awards, the 3SAwards, awarded its partners for their sustainability commitments and achievements
Last night, paper group, Sofidel – commonly known for its Regina Blitz household towel – held the second edition of the Sofidel Suppliers Sustainability Award. The annual awards acknowledge suppliers who have opted for environmental and social sustainability actions, and was held at the East Wintergarden in London with guest speaker Dame Ellen MacArthur who noted: “I was delighted to speak at the Sofidel Suppliers Sustainability Award ceremony to share my story and be a part of this important step from Sofidel to help improve sustainability across their full supply chain, which supports our shared value to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.”
As a company who has always put sustainability and the environment at the heart of its operations, the Sofidel Suppliers Sustainability Award was born to help motivate suppliers to enhance the best practices of the industry and improve environmental and social sustainability across the full supply chain.
"Promoting sustainable and responsible growth also means engaging our partners in our vision and making them more aware of their environmental impacts," said Luigi Lazzareschi, CEO of the Sofidel Group. "We are convinced that building a sustainable future will have to go through a widespread and shared commitment, the need to take on new and broader responsibilities".
After the first edition of the awards, held last year in Lucca, Italy – this year Sofidel decided to give a more international dimension to the prize, leaving the Italian borders and hosting the awards ceremony in a metropolis such as London, in a country where Sofidel has the largest share of turnover together with Italy. Nearly 400 suppliers from Europe and North America participated in the second edition of the project.
The award is based on the "TenP - Sustainable Supply Chain Self-Assessment Platform" project, conceived and promoted by the Global Compact Network Italia Foundation (GCNI Foundation), of which the Sofidel Group is "Founder Promoter” member. A performance, self-assessment tool built from the Ten Principles ("TenP") of the Global Compact from the United Nations that, in keeping with the most relevant and up-to-date sustainability standards and conventions, takes into account human rights, working conditions, environmental protection and the fight against corruption, with the aim of identifying common challenges and solutions to improve sustainability within the supply chain.
Sofidel has set up three categories of prizes:
1. Best Supplier, for companies that obtained the highest score based on the TenP platform. The awarded companies are:
• Category for Suppliers of strategic raw materials (pulp, waste paper, biomass): Suzano Pulp and Paper Europe
• Category for Suppliers of machineries, non-strategic raw materials, services and spare parts: Valmet
• Category for Logistic Services Suppliers: Kuehne + Nagel
• Category for Suppliers of Marketing & Sales: Vizeum Deutschland GmbH
2. Best Improver, for companies that were able to better their results by undergoing new sustainability and environmental procedures. The awarded companies are:
• Category for Suppliers of strategic raw materials (pulp, waste paper, biomass): Zellstoff- und Papierfabrik Rosenthal GmbH
• Category for Suppliers of machineries, non-strategic raw materials, services and spare parts: Windsor Engineering (Hull) Limited
• Category for Logistic Services Suppliers: LKW WALTER Internationale Transportorganisation AG
3. Best sustainable project, recognition that goes to the company that has implemented a particularly relevant environmental and social sustainability initiative. The awarded companies are:
• Category for Large Companies: Fibria International Trade GmbH
• Category for Large Companies: Skymark Packaging International Ltd
• Category for Medium/Small Companies: Dasara trasporti S.p.A.
• Category for Medium/Small Companies: Groupe SGP
Sofidel's Supplier Sustainability Award has been created in collaboration with: Elettric 80, Fabio Perini, Södra, Henkel, A.Celli, Kemira (Global Partners); Pulsar, Industria Cartaria Pieretti (Premium Partners); Fondazione Ecosistemi (Official Partner); Touchwa.re (Digital Partner); Tissue World Magazine (Media Partner).
Sofidel has always made sustainability a strategic lever of growth, aiming to minimize its environmental impacts and maximize social benefits. To date, the Group has reduced direct emissions of CO2 to 19.1% in the atmosphere, limiting the use of water resources within production processes (7.0 l / kg compared to a benchmark of 15-25 l/kg), and obtains 100% of cellulose supplies from certified third party with certified forestry schemes (FSC®, FSC Controlled Wood, SFI®, PEFC ™).
Attention to environmental and social sustainability goes beyond the impacts of the Group's production, which is committed to contributing to the achievement of the United Nations's 6th Sustainable Development Goal (ensuring water and sanitation to everyone) through collaboration with WaterAid, a non-governmental association based in the United Kingdom. The mission of WaterAid is to bring drinking water and sanitation acceptable to everyone and everywhere in the world by 2030. Today, 844 million people have no access to clean water sources, and 2.3 billion people - about 1 inhabitant of the planet out of 3 – cannot count on adequate sanitation.