Raw material security

Material topic: Wood & pulp sourcing

[GRI 3-3]

Wood and dissolving wood pulp are the most important raw materials for Lenzing and there are potential risks associated with their sourcing, such as deforestation, climate changes and biodiversity loss. This is why Lenzing minimizes the environmental risk of procuring wood through responsible sourcing from sustainably managed forests. More than 99 percent of the company’s wood and pulp sourcing is certified by globally recognized standards, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC^®) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). Lenzing is constantly engaging with different stakeholders (NGOs, customers, investors) in order to meet their expectations and meet upcoming regulation requirements (e.g. EU Green Deal, EU Timber Regulation, supply chain due diligence).

Actual and potential negative and positive impacts

Positive

• Wood as a natural and renewable raw material offers expanded business perspectives
• As a replacement for fossil-based products
• Due to its contribution to climate change mitigation through carbon sinks in forests and wood products, and substitution of fossil-based product
• Wood is an alternative to agricultural products (e.g. cotton)
• Using wood from sustainably managed forests supports biodiversity

Negative

Own activities:

• Potential reputation loss due to link to deforestation or contribution to biodiversity loss

Business relationships:

• Sourcing of environmentally and socially controversial wood and pulp
• Loss of biodiversity in poorly managed forest ecosystems
• Sourcing can be impacted by climate change
• Climate and market impact on wood and pulp availability, price and quality

Policies and commitments

• Centrally managed wood and pulp procurement
• Strict Wood and Pulp Policy
• CanopyStyle Initiative
• Global Lenzing Supplier Code of Conduct
• Preference for long-term contracts and direct contacts

Actions taken

• More than 99 percent of wood suppliers assessed according to the FSC^® Controlled Wood criteria
• Start up and ramp up of pulp mill in Brazil and site in Thailand
• PEFC Chain of Custody certificate for fiber production sites in Purwakarta (Indonesia), Nanjing (China), Mobile (USA)
• Sustainability performance of pulp suppliers was surveyed in a comprehensive questionnaire
• Integration of plantations managed by LD Celulose (Brazil) into the Lenzing Group
• Transportation of some inbound materials changed from road to rail to improve carbon footprint
• Regular audits on forest certification standards (FSC^®, PEFC)¹
• Internal audit management system
• Wood and Pulp certification according to FSC^® and PEFC standards
• Additional third-party verification as part of the CanopyStyle Initiative and through internal supplier audits
• Lenzing tops Canopy’s Hot Button Ranking with a “dark green shirt”
• CDP Forests “A” rating
• EcoVadis Platinum status for the Lenzing Group for the second time in a row

Sustainability targets, measures and progress

For more information, please see the “Sustainability targets, measures and progress” chapter. 

Stakeholder

• Suppliers
• Together for Sustainability (TfS)
• CDP
• Canopy
• Forest Europe, European and national forest strategies
• The Austrian Bioeconomy Strategy

For more information, please see the chapter “Stakeholder engagement”.

Responsible

• Member of the Managing Board (Pulp)
• Senior Director Purchasing Wood
• VP Comm. Affairs Pulp
• VP Global Purchasing

Supporting

• Corporate Sustainability
• Global QESH

¹ FSC^® (FSC-C041246), PEFC (PEFC/06-33-92)