Sourcing

An important part of pulp supplier assessments is checking the traceability of the timber utilised in production.

Most of SCA’s timber-consuming industries are certified along the entire chain of custody, which entails that uncertified timber must meet FSC’s requirements for checks on origin.

SCA checks fibre-based raw materials by assessing existing and potential suppliers. These efforts include:

• questionnaires and documentation requirements
• random follow-up of suppliers
• independent audits

In 2009, SCA collected data from all of its major pulp suppliers, and evaluated them based on such criteria as quality, environmental aspects and delivery reliability.

Controversial sources as defined by SCA illegally logged timber timber from forests with high conservation value timber from areas where human rights or traditional rights of indigenous persons are being violated

As part of its field audits, SCA reviews the systems implemented by each company in order to ensure that the Group’s requirements are met. Based on the result, a discussion is then held regarding each supplier’s stronger and weaker qualities. The main goal is not to exclude suppliers, but to bring about improvements. Companies that do not meet SCA’s requirements will be phased out if they are unable to present credible plans for improvement.

Using the data collected and the results of the field audits, all pulp suppliers are ranked. In the long term, SCA strives to concentrate its purchases to a smaller number of suppliers who enjoy favourable preconditions for meeting the Group’s far-reaching environmental demands. The result is larger average purchase volumes and hence a more efficient supplier evaluation process.

More information on how SCA's different operations work with fibre sourcing is described further in the Sustainability Report 2010.