In South Africa, Sappi are experiencing water problems following two years of below-average rainfall. As with energy, Sappi realise that it makes economic sense to intensively manage water usage. While pulp and paper manufacturing does use large quantities of water, Sappi claim to return approximately 90% of the water back to the environment. In terms of quantity, the surface and ground water supply to the European mills has proven abundant even in very dry summers. Sappi currently use only a small amount of the permitted water abstraction limits in this region. The risk of plantation fires is always present during the dry winter months and for this reason, an extensive fire protection strategy has been implemented by Sappi South Africa. This strategy increases community participation in fire prevention and reduces the incidents of fires through regional and district Fire Protection Associations. Sappi have also embarked on a fire crew training program. This programme has resulted in an improved response times to fires. The above initiatives have prevented major losses to Sappi and more importantly, reduced the potential harm to the environment Pulp mills have used black liquor as an energy source since the 1930s. Black liquor is the spent cooking liquor from the kraft process which results when pulpwood is digested into paper pulp by removing lignin, hemicellulose and other extractives from the wood to free the cellulose fibres. Black liquor contains more than half of the energy content of the wood fed into the digester (Stenius, 2000).
In South Africa, Sappi are experiencing water problems following two years of below-average rainfall. As with energy, Sappi realise that it makes economic sense to intensively manage water usage. While pulp and paper manufacturing does use large quantities of water, Sappi claim to return approximately 90% of the water back to the environment. In terms of quantity, the surface and ground water supply to the European mills has proven abundant even in very dry summers. Sappi currently use only a small amount of the permitted water abstraction limits in this region. The risk of plantation fires is always present during the dry winter months and for this reason, an extensive fire protection strategy has been implemented by Sappi South Africa. This strategy increases community participation in fire prevention and reduces the incidents of fires through regional and district Fire Protection Associations. Sappi have also embarked on a fire crew training program. This programme has resulted in an improved response times to fires. The above initiatives have prevented major losses to Sappi and more importantly, reduced the potential harm to the environment Pulp mills have used black liquor as an energy source since the 1930s. Black liquor is the spent cooking liquor from the kraft process which results when pulpwood is digested into paper pulp by removing lignin, hemicellulose and other extractives from the wood to free the cellulose fibres. Black liquor contains more than half of the energy content of the wood fed into the digester (Stenius, 2000).
Ethics%20Sustainability%20and%20Governance.docx