Sustainability Report Sustainability Report Domsjö Fabrik er AB FY20, April 2019 – March 2020 Ny bild? Domsjö Fabriker AB FY20, April 2019 – March 2020 2019-2020, Domsjö Fabriker AB Content I. LEADERSHIP MESSAGES AND SUSTAINABILITY AT DOMSJÖ FABRIKER ..................................................... 4 A. MESSAGE FROM CEO BJÖRN VEDIN ....................................................................................................................... 4 II. ABOUT THE REPORT, REPORTING PRINCIPLES, BOUNDARY AND SCOPE .................................................. 5 A. SUSTAINABILITY DATA MANAGEMENT ..................................................................................................................... 5 III. LOCATION AND LOCAL STRUCTURE .......................................................................................................... 5 IV. WHAT MAKES A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS AND A SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT? ............................................. 5 V. GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE ....................................................................................................................... 6 A. BOARD OF DIRECTORS .......................................................................................................................................... 8 B. SUSTAINABILITY FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................................ 8 VI. SUPPLY CHAIN, RAW MATERIAL, OPERATIONS AND PRODUCTS ............................................................ 12 A. SUPPLY CHAIN ................................................................................................................................................... 12 B. FOREST AND WOOD RAW MATERIAL ...................................................................................................................... 13 C. OPERATIONS ..................................................................................................................................................... 14 1. The process at Domsjö Fabriker ........................................................................................................... 15 D. PRODUCTS ....................................................................................................................................................... 15 1. Speciality Cellulose ............................................................................................................................... 16 2. Lignin ................................................................................................................................................... 16 3. Bioethanol ............................................................................................................................................ 16 4. By-products .......................................................................................................................................... 17 VII. ASSESSMENT OF MATERIAL TOPICS ....................................................................................................... 17 A. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MATERIALITY ASSESSMENT...................................................................................................... 17 B. PROCESS FOR MATERIALITY ASSESSMENT: ............................................................................................................... 17 C. SUMMARY OF MATERIALITY TOPICS ...................................................................................................................... 18 VIII. PERFORMANCE DISCLOSURES OF KEY SUSTAINABILITY ASPECTS ........................................................... 19 A. ASSESSMENT REGARDING DOMSJÖ FABRIKER’S OPERATIONS AND SWEDEN’S ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY OBJECTIVES ............. 19 IX. THE ENVIRONMENTAL YEAR - THE SHORT VERSION ............................................................................... 20 X. ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES ..................................................................................................... 21 A. EMISSIONS, EFFLUENTS AND WASTE....................................................................................................................... 21 1. Emissions to water ............................................................................................................................... 21 2. Effluents to water ................................................................................................................................ 21 3. Emissions to air .................................................................................................................................... 22 4. Solid waste ........................................................................................................................................... 23 B. ENERGY ........................................................................................................................................................... 24 C. MATERIALS ...................................................................................................................................................... 25 XI. ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITIES ................................................................................................................ 25 XII. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES ...................................................................................................................... 26 A. EMPLOYMENT ................................................................................................................................................... 26 B. OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY .................................................................................................................... 27 C. PUBLIC RELATIONSHIP EVENTS .............................................................................................................................. 27 Page 2 (33) 1. Sponsorship .......................................................................................................................................... 27 XIII. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT ................................................................................................................ 28 A. OUR APPROACH TO STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT: ................................................................................................... 28 B. OVERVIEW OF RELATIONSHIPS WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS: ........................................................................................... 28 1. Customers ............................................................................................................................................ 28 2. Owners, board of directors, local management .................................................................................. 29 3. State, authorities, institutes and local community .............................................................................. 29 4. Local citizens ........................................................................................................................................ 29 5. Now employed and future employees ................................................................................................. 29 6. Banks and business partners ............................................................................................................... 30 7. Suppliers .............................................................................................................................................. 30 8. Partners within innovations and development .................................................................................... 30 9. Neighbouring industries....................................................................................................................... 30 XIV. FUTURE PROOFING ................................................................................................................................ 31 A. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CELLULOSE BUSINESS ................................................................................................ 31 1. Innovation ............................................................................................................................................ 31 XV. GRI CONTENT INDEX .............................................................................................................................. 32 Page 3 (33) I. Leadership Messages and Sustainability at Domsjö Fabriker A. Message from CEO Björn Vedin FY20 was a year in which we continue to focus on our strategy to further strengthening our position as a high-quality producer of specialty biorefinery products. Our sales of specialty cellulose and specialty lignin products increased during the year and we reached as well new customers as new applications. Ethanol business performed best during FY20 on a high level both in shipments and price. During the year price on cellulose has weaken to be in the year end on history low levels. This has been trouble some for Domsjö and a restructuring program had to be initiated. The program contained different topics from people reduction to increased speciality sales, plan is to save over 100Msek annually. The program has started in a promising way and deliver according to plan. During the fiscal year we have also worked intensely to complete and start-up of a new DD washer. DD-washer was commissioned during our annual shutdown in May. There was some start-up problems but is now in full operation. The work to fulfil the new environmental permit continued during the year. Environmental Court approved our application in January 2019 but at the same time required us to make significant reductions in our effluents to the recipient regarding COD, Suspended solids, Nitrogen and Phosphorous as well as to reduce our emissions to air of SO , H S and dust particles. In order to 2 2 comply with these requirements, we have initiated several investigations during the coming years to identify and implement the possible measures to achieve a required reduction in effluent load and emissions to air. The outcome of these investigations will be investments in equipment that will reduce our impact on the environment at the same time as we are developing and increasing our production. Wood supply has during FY20 continue to be very challenging with tough competition. The biggest reason is that competition has made capacity expansions in the surroundings which also has increased the demand on the local market and create a larger shortage on the domestic wood market. The increasing demand will continue to put pressure on wood sourcing and will lead to increasing demand for imported wood. For Sweden, this is an important issue to address, as the growth in the Swedish forests is significantly higher than the yearly harvesting. The ambition of the Swedish Government to establish a Bioeconomy based on the sustainable wood raw material will require a decision on how much of the growth in the Swedish forest that shall be used to supply wood to the Swedish industries in our efforts to support the transition to a Bioeconomy. The Biorefinery Domsjö Fabriker produces several products that replaces fossil oil based alternatives and thus already today supporting the transition to a Bioeconomy. This can be further developed but requires increasing supply of local wood, which can be achieved partly by measures from the forest owners who can increase the growth in their forests. However, the ambition from the Swedish Government regarding how to balance the preservation of the nature with the requirement of supplying sustainable wood raw material to the industries need to be clarified. Page 4 (33) II. About the report, reporting principles, boundary and scope The sustainability report for Domsjö Fabriker AB (from here on called Domsjö Fabriker or the company) for the fiscal year 20 (FY20), April 2019 – March 2020 is made annually and follows the principles of stakeholder inclusiveness, materiality, sustainability context and completeness. This sustainability report is made as a separate document from the financial statement and is produced in line with the international standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). This report has been prepared in accordance with GRI standards: Core option. The boundary and scope of this report includes Domsjö Fabriker, for reasons of coverage within direct control and availability of data. For further information regarding the information in this report please contact Monika Backerholm, Communication Manager. The last Sustainability report was published May 2019. http://www.domsjo.adityabirla.com http://www.adityabirla.com A. Sustainability Data Management Domsjö Fabriker has a data management system together with the rest of Aditya Birla Group (ABG) for continuous tracking of key disclosures. One module is configured for indicators around the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) requirements and will capture all GRI Standard indicators. This will help monitoring these indicators and at a later stage publishing the sustainability report in line with strategy of Aditya Birla Group. Domsjö Fabriker works systematically with sustainability data management through different management tools. All kinds of incidents (health, safety, environment, social, labour and legal) are tracked so that remedial actions can be taken. The tools assist to conduct investigation, root cause analysis, corrective-preventive action plans and closure. During FY20 the company started to report investigations, risk analyses and audits into the system for incidents and deviations which has simplified and improved that work. It has made it easier to address certain actions and also to follow up what has been done and if the action has had desired effect. III. Location and local structure Domsjö Fabriker is located in Örnsköldsvik and is base of both operations and headquarters. Domsjö Fabriker has only one supplier of wood raw material, Domsjö Fiber, which is partly owned by Domsjö Fabriker together with Övik Energi AB. Domse Latvija is Domsjö Fabriker’s subsidiary in Latvia with 14 employees. Domse Latvija procures wood, primarily from the Latvian market. IV. What makes a sustainable business and a sustainable product? According to Aditya Birla Group, a sustainable business is one that can live within the constraints of a “two degree sustainable world”. A business that can reduce its impact on the externalities, as required by the shrinking legal space within which it must operate, as well as one that can adapt to external factors that are driven by global megatrends which will inevitably affect it. Page 5 (33) Businesses work according to management systems. Today, these management systems are often designed to meet limits set by local laws. However, these limits are not sufficiently restrictive to control our cumulative impact, such that we remain within the planet's safe operating limits. In areas such as the production of greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide (CO ), biodiversity 2 management, nitrogen use, water management, land use, safety and health management, businesses will have to introduce greater levels of management control, over time. By doing so, they will increase and standardise performance in these areas. In many cases, reduction will not suffice, and a complete transformation to new technologies or new methods will be required. This is especially true of the energy matrix, where reduction in the use of energy can only go so far towards reducing CO , before new fossil fuel-free sources of energy must be introduced to our energy mix. 2 Domsjö Fabriker, as a biorefinery, is working in this direction with a wide range of products, all based on renewable and traceable raw materials. There is a motivation to find more and new innovated products. Our products can replace those fossil-based in the textile and chemical industries and thereby contribute to strengthening the bioeconomy and reducing the environmental impact of our own and our customers operations and products. One good example of the usability of our products is from the beginning of year 2020 when our Ethanol that normally goes to renewable fuels went into production of disinfection to prevent the spread of Covid-19. V. Governance structure Domsjö Fabriker is a part of Aditya Birla Group since 2011. Aditya Birla Group is an expanding Indian conglomerate with roots in the Indian textile industry. The business includes production of viscose fibre, aluminium, copper, cement, chemicals, fertilisers and isolators as well as running retail businesses, etc. The turnover is 48 billion USD and the Aditya Birla Group is anchored by a strong force of over 120,000 employees, belonging to 42 nationalities and operates in 34 countries across 5 continents. The Aditya Birla Group is the world’s largest manufacturer of viscose fibre, and is involved in the entire textile value chain, from the production of viscose to the finished cloth and apparel. Domsjö Fabriker is one of four cellulose plants in the Aditya Birla group. Two are situated in Canada and one in India. The group has development laboratories and pilot equipment which enables simulating all industrial processes, from forest to fashion. Approximately one out of four viscose clothing items in the world is produced using viscose fibre from Aditya Birla. Four viscose fibre brands are produced; Birla Viscose, Birla Modal, Birla Excel, Birla Purocel. The products are known as Birla Cellulose. Viscose fibre is not only used for different kinds of clothing, from fashion to work clothes, but also for home textiles and non-woven use, such as personal hygiene and medical purposes. Liva, a cloth made from viscose fibre in a by ABG controlled manner is also marketed in co-operation with several brands of textile manufacturers. Domsjö Fabriker is committed to Aditya Birla Group’s corporate values, principles and policies. The values are the core within the Group and implemented in Domsjö Fabriker with a Swedish approach, taking government laws and institutions into account. Page 6 (33) Group values: • Integrity: Acting and taking decisions in a manner that is fair and honest. Following the highest standards of professionalism and being recognised for doing so. Integrity for us means not only financial and intellectual integrity but encompasses all other forms as are generally understood. • Commitment: On the foundation of Integrity, doing all that is needed to deliver value to all stakeholders. In the process, being accountable for our own actions and decisions, those of our team and those on the part of the organisation for which we are responsible. • Passion: An energetic, intuitive zeal that arises from emotional engagement with the organisation that makes work joyful and inspires each one to give his or her best. A voluntary, spontaneous and relentless pursuit of goals and objectives with the highest level of energy and enthusiasm. • Seamlessness: Thinking and working together across functional groups, hierarchies, businesses and geographies. Leveraging diverse competencies and perspectives to garner the benefits of synergy while promoting organisational unity through sharing and collaborative efforts. • Speed: Responding to internal and external customers with a sense of urgency. Continuously striving to finish before deadlines and choosing the best rhythm to optimise organisational efficiencies. The governance structure for implementation of sustainability consists of three layers. Domsjö Fabriker has a Core Committee at Pulp and Fibre Business level that is responsible for taking sustainability into the company’s business strategy. The Apex Sustainability Committee, with representatives from all units in the pulp and fibre business, is primarily responsible for implementation of the framework, see figure 1 on next page. The Apex Sustainability Committee delegates responsibilities to Unit Level Sustainability Committees, Roadmap Task Forces and Stakeholder Engagement Committees for implementation of various sustainability initiatives in line with the group strategy and framework. The Unit Sustainability Committee is being established and will be the link to management of Domsjö Fabriker. Page 7 (33) Figure 1: Sustainability governance structure for sustainable business. Source: Building sustainable businesses fit for a sustainable world, ABG 2019 A. Board of Directors The board of Domsjö Fabriker AB consists of: • Kumar Jain Shailendra, Chairman • Dilip Gaur, Business director, Pulp and Fiber ABG • Vinod Tiwari, COO Pulp operations, ABG • John Davidsson, President Europe, Middle East & Africa, ABG • Björn Vedin, CEEO Domsjö Fabriker AB • Ronny Hellström, Representant PTK (the Union) • Maria Wallenius, Representant, LO (the Union) B. Sustainability Framework The sustainability vision and framework has been developed at the Aditya Birla Group level and cascades down to different businesses and plants. The main components of the framework include a sustainability vision, policies and standards to be applied by group companies. The purpose of the framework is to proactively build relationships with stakeholders, monitor performance against various standards, and drive results to ensure long-term sustainability of the organization. The framework is driven by the Aditya Birla sustainability model which consists of three vehicles for Page 8 (33) sustainable growth: responsible stewardship, stakeholder engagement and future proofing, please see figure 2 below. Figure 2: Aditya Birla sustainability framework. Source: Building sustainable businesses fit for a sustainable world, ABG 2019 The three wheels above, Responsible Stewardship, Strategic Stakeholder Engagement and Future Proofing consists of different policies, technical standards and programmes of activity. Page 9 (33) By adopting an evidence-based approach ABG are ensuring rigour and consistency in their processes. The units must provide details of the systems that they have in place and the resulting performance through photographs, documents and registers uploaded as part of the SAQs (Self-Assessment Questionnaires). Those that rank themselves >80% are reviewed off-site and the highest performers >95% are visited in order to verify the consistency of their results. ABG have also introduced a series of Assurance Principles to guide the self- assessment and verification process. Domsjö Fabriker was assessed at site regarding Legal requirements, Occupational Health, First Aid during and WASH (Water, Sanitary and Hygiene) 2018 and keeps following the SAQs from ABG. Page 10 (33)