Paper company Domtar has unveiled 35 key performance indicators, including a pledge to cut its scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by 8 percent by 2020 based on 2010 levels, in its latest corporate sustainability report.
The company says the KPIs and the sustainability framework surrounding them build on "industry leadership" in forestry certification, good mill-level environmental performance and longstanding collaborations with environmental non-governmental organizations.
Domtar's new KPIs are split into five categories covering its fiber, environmental impact, products, employees and the communities in which the company operates.
In the fiber category Domtar has committed itself to eventually sourcing 100 percent of its fiber from Forestry Stewardship Council-certified sources. Its 2020 goal is to source 25 percent of its total from such sources. Other KPIs that the company will record, but are not necessarily targets, include the percentage of FSC-controlled wood, the percentage of Sustainable Forestry Initiative fiber, and the overall percentage of ecolabel-certified fiber.
Currently, 89 percent of the total fiber Domtar procures comes from controlled sources, as recognized by World Wildlife Fund’s North American Global Forest & Trade Network. Some 20 percent of that comes from forests that are either certified, or on their way to being certified, by the FSC, the report says.
In 2011, 16 percent of the wood Domtar used was FSC-certified, the same proportion as 2010 and 2 percentage points higher than in 2009. Some 9 percent of the company's wood in 2011 was SFI-certified, up from 6 percent in 2010. The total amount of Domtar's wood that was certified by an ecolabel in 2011 was 32 percent, up from 28 percent in 2010. In 2009, 28.5 percent of the company's wood was certified by an ecolabeling system.
Currently 100 percent of Domtar's owned and operational forests are certified by both the FSC and SFI. It is in the process of selling off Ontario forests - none of which is certified or currently operational. Of the forests it licenses the use of, 69 percent are FSC-certified and 20 percent are SFI-certified.
In 2011, the company expanded its range of FSC-certified products. Domtar’s EarthChoice product line now includes such specialty products as bandage wraps, popcorn bags, candy wrappers, sugar pouches, and hamburger wrappers.
Between 2010 and 2011 Domtar's CO2 intensity dropped just under 2 percent, from 642.3 to 630.8 kg of CO2 equivalent per metric ton of production. Since 2002, the company's carbon intensity has dropped almost 28 percent.
Its absolute emissions dropped from 3.5 to 3.4 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent from 2010 to 2011 - just under a 3 percent drop. Since 2002, the company's total emissions have fallen by a third. The company is looking into efficiency improvements at its locations as well as greater use of demand response programs. Three Domtar facilities already have demand response agreements with three electricity suppliers, the report says.
The company increased the proportion of its energy that comes from renewable sources from 75.3 percent to 76.1 percent year-on-year. In 2002, 67.8 percent of its energy came from renewable sources. Domtar now generates 72.4 percent of its own energy, up from 69.8 percent in 2010 and 51.9 percent in 2002.
Other energy-related metrics Domtar will now be measuring include the energy used per metric ton of production and the percentage of renewable energy used per metric ton of production.
Domtar's amount of material landfilled per unit of production increased from 46.8 kilograms per metric ton in 2010 to 58.5 kilograms per metric ton in 2011. This is a 25 percent increase. The company's hazardous waste production jumped from 0.05 to 0.075 kg per metric ton of production over the same time period. This jump was mainly caused by the clearing of hazardous waste storage areas and asbestos removal activities at Domtar's mills and is largely unrelated to process activities, the report says.
The company says that this year also marks the first time Domtar is issuing a level-checked "B" Global Reporting Initiative report, as well as the first time that outside perspective from sustainability experts in the private sector and civil society is being featured.
