Mondi Extends Responsible Procurement Process for Suppliers

Global packaging and paper group Mondi says it screened 1,000 suppliers in 2019 as part of a responsible procurement process. Now company plans to encourage increased supply chain transparency with key suppliers, and extend engagement with high-risk suppliers to share best practices.

The Vienna-based company has a global supply chain that spans more than 14,000 tier one suppliers in 66 countries, of which 2,000 are key suppliers, Mondi noted this week. Around 80% of the business is fiber-based.

Mondi says that it manages product and services sourcing by defining specific procurement categories, each with a unique set of sustainability-related risks. There are four key risk areas: labor rights, climate change, water, and biodiversity.

“We take a targeted, risk-based approach to focus on relevant parts of our supply chain,” the group said. “When assessing supplier risk, we consider geography, product type, the significance of a raw material or service to Mondi as well as the spend involved.”

The company described its responsible procurement process:

• Gather baseline data: 1,000 of 2,000 key suppliers were part of the responsible procurement process in 2019. Mondi plans to continue this process in 2020.
• Risk screening: 1,000 key suppliers (50% of all key suppliers) located across 2,000 different sites. No new suppliers were screened in 2019 due to the finalization of the company’s responsible procurement process, which is now in place and will be used to screen new suppliers this year.
• Supplier questionnaire: 5% of supplier sites were assessed as high-risk and requested to fill in a supplier questionnaire.
• Evaluation and follow-up: Based on the results of the questionnaire, 0.3% of key supplier sites remained at high-risk, 4% of key supplier sites were de-escalated, and 2% were non-responsive. Mondi says it continues to engage with the respective suppliers to understand their responses to the supplier questionnaire and to obtain further relevant information related to the area of risk identified.
• Tracking and monitoring: For non-responsive and other high-risk suppliers, Mondi said it identified escalation steps. They include supplier meetings, audits, third-party ESG reports and, if required, termination of the supplier relationship.

Last year, Mondi participated in CDP’s Supplier Engagement Rating and expects to receive its rating in 2020.

“Our focus on responsible sourcing helps to ensure there are no human rights violations and improves our understanding of the climate — and water-related risks in our supply chain,” the group said.