Environmental Profile Analysis of Mondi Plc - Case Study Example

Environmental Profile Analysis of Mondi PLc (Student Name) (Course No.) (Lecturer) (University) (Date) Environmental Profile of Mondi PLc With the global focus on sustainable activities, various organizations including Mondi PLC are shifting their production process and products to those are environmentally friendly. In 2006, the company focused on its Green Range as a brand for its papers that have high environmental profile. Besides, the Green Range is also the channel of communicating the efforts and initiatives in place to the company to have sustainable paper production process and make environmental issues be at the centre of the paper industry. The company’s slogan, “As Green as it gets,” reflects the commitment to ensure environmental sustainability through expanding the Green Range. Besides, all the papers generated by Mondi PLc meet various criteria for Green Range including FSC® or PEFC™ certification, Totally Chlorine Free bleached (TCF), or 100% recycled. The slogan also reflects the company’s commitment to improving the eco-friendly working environments within the mills and papers as reiterated by Johannes Klumpp, the Marketing, and Sales Director for the Uncoated Fine Paper (Mondi Group Limited, n.d). Other activities carried by the company to ensure environmental sustainability are responsible forest management, reduced water and energy consumption, reduced emissions, and generation of fewer wastes. To stress on the eco-conscious production process carried out by Mondi paper, the institutional current campaigns display tangrami paper landscape with bees, birds, and other organisms as the dominant species which tends to gravitate towards a natural fauna. Besides the Green Range Criteria, several renowned international institutions accredit the papers produced by the company. All the papers produced using UFP mills in Austria and Slovakia meet the EU Ecolabel certification that signifies environmental excellence for the goods and services that meet the required environmental standards throughout the lifecycle. Additionally, products like 100% recycled NAULITUS® Classic and the BIO TOP 3® brand received certification with Blue Angel and Austrian Environmental Label respectively. In order to reduce the amount gasses contributing to climate change, Mondi’s important principles is to optimize its processes, which in turn reduces emission rates and then offset. The company also can calculate its total carbon footprint in every production stage, supply chain, and determine the effects of associated Greenhouse Gas. Since 2004, the company focused on reducing its carbon emissions from the materials used by 26% reflecting a reduction of 4.3 million CO2e tones. Such reductions were possible to due application of carbon sequestration concept in its South African plantations and intensive sale of green electricity, fuels, and heat. It also focused on using recovered papers and substituting the natural gasses with the biogas. With regard to the products, Mondi UFP also participates in various programmes that aim to reduce the emission rates such as Run of River with an aim of offering the customers 100% recycled NAUTILUS® SuperWhite and DNS® inject that has high speed and CO2 neutral options besides the fully CO2 neutral color copy. From the organizational efforts, the Run of River hydropower projects resulted in CO2 reductions of about 230,000 tones of CO2 equivalent. To increase the level of awareness of environmental problems especially for pulp and paper industry, Mondi PLc holds on regular basis the Green Events. Besides, the products have environmental labels to assist with marketing activities. The company developed an online learning tool referred to as the Green Module that has various languages including German, English, and Italy to account for the various concerned parties and stakeholders (Chambers & Green, 2005, 107). Additionally, to attract even more people to read the Green Module, the company has a policy that for each person reading the Green Module, the company donates 1 euro to OroVerde. OroVerd is an NGO that has a reforestation project identified “Guatemala – Tree for Tree.” With the 1 euro equaling to 1 planted tree, the company is sure of reaching its objective. Triple Bottom Line (TBL) of Mondi PLc TBL is an accounting concept that seems to integrate the various dimensions of performances including the social, financial, and environmental. The concept differs from the traditional one as it incorporates environmental and social measures, which might be difficult to assign the appropriate methods of measurements. Before its introduction, environmentalists struggled with the measures and frameworks for sustainability. In Mondi, the TBL involves capturing the essence of ensuring sustainability through measuring the impacts of organizational activities globally with the inclusion of both the profitability and the shareholders’ value, and environmental capita. Additionally, the TBL business approach used within the company ensure that it integrates all the components of social and environmental considerations during the decision-making process (Mondi Group, 2012). Such integration ensures commitment and strengthening of the freshwater stewardship. The company believes that through its business practices, participation in and support for various international bodies such as World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), The Forest Dialogue, and The Forest Stewardship CouncilTM it has higher chances of making positive contribution towards the maintenance of biodiversity. Other activities such as investment in the research, development, and conservation might as well assist in the development of landscape and natural forest where it operates. Any integrated report needs to focus on both the environmental and social issues as it assists in extensively analyzing all the organizational processes. In Mondi Plc, the TBL used tends to highlight the relationship between various processes and explains the existing connectivity between the external business environment and resources or capitals that it uses and produces. Any business organization that applies an integrated method of thinking often have no challenges in producing integrated reports, as such reports always indicate the criteria used in making decisions and assessing performance. With the changing concepts of management, focusing on TBL framework offers the company an opportunity to associate with internationally renowned institutions due to its commitment to ensuring sustainability of the environment. Trades-Off Between Commercial and Sustainable Supply Chains Within the developing world, the major factor driving recycling is the economic necessity and environmental benefits. The major incentive enjoyed by Mondi PLc through recycling of its wastes including the paper is the residual economic value. In countries like South Africa, where Mondi also operates, businesses within the formal sectors tend to experiment using the models that leverage the strengths of the informal sector with an aim of streamlining their supply chains. Mondi PLc is an important paper producer that has international presence (Mondi Group, 2012). As a result, it created several economic opportunities through outsourcing its supply chain especially for the recovered fibre, the term used in referring waste papers within the company. Besides, the company started a scheme identified as “owner-driver” that encouraged some of its workers to create opportunities for pick-up and delivery of the papers. Therefore, it empowered them and created a platform for ensuring economic development and value chain with both direct and indirect benefits for many people in form of employment, increased income, transfer of skills, and development of various enterprises. Mondi PLc uses value-driven supply chains in creating sustainable economic environments. With the method, the company segments its supply chains with an aim of addressing specific needs of the market as well as driving greater level of economic value (Friend & Kohn, 2007, 225). Different segments tend to portray differing tradeoffs; however, in all cases, there is a greater visibility coming at each point of the value chain. Such visibility offers Mondi PLc more insight earlier on, which allows it to manage its entire value chains in a proactive manner and orchestrate the outcomes. Additionally, both the system-wide and integrated improvement methods mark the value driven supply chain. Through these activities, the institution develops a disciplined management system, which incorporates various processes, technology, and people and operates within the set goals and principles. Perception on whether company “walks the talk” Mondi PLc considers environmental quality as an integral part in ensuring the achievement of sustainable development. Since it activities touches on the sensitive ecological component, the company encourages certain activities such as reforestation and adjustment of organizational process to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Since the company values environmental quality and sustainability, it collaborated with various international organizations that advocate for the quality conditions. With the support and expertise from the Mondi Wetlands Programme, the company has been able to assess the quality of services that it major wetlands provides within South African forestry areas. Besides, instead of releasing carbon dioxide produced during paper production process into the environment, the company applies the modern method of carbon sequestration. Such practice in itself identifies the crucial role played by the environment. There are also designs already drawn up to assist in managing and improving the quality of services. Moreover, Mondi PLc recognizes the importance of having meaningful frameworks for financial assessments and quantitative systems that value ecosystem services. Various organizational strategies encourage sustainable use of environmental resources. Beside, adequate funds are in place to support organizations supporting conservations as well as Green Module that exist in different languages. Currently, Mondi PLc is actively exploring the potential of having a formal corporation with international NGOs within thematic areas involving land stewardship and eco-system values. The company also carried out a thorough water impact assessment in South African plantations to establish the major catchment areas where water consumption requires careful monitoring. The company does not convert the natural forests, riparian zones, wetlands, and other protected areas into plantations reflecting how it values ecological resources. Converting the grasslands and degraded agricultural areas is subject to environmental impact assessment (EIA) and application of the multi-stakeholder license to ensure adequate protection of the water and other biological resources. Additionally, the company established land management to ensure conservation of resources. The developed ecosystem plans for all the forestry operations in South Africa helped in improving the method of identifying, protecting, managing, and restoring the various functions of the ecosystem and biodiversity. Relationship between the Information on the Website and Annual Report Viewing the information based on the organizational website and in the annual report, there is precision, reconciliation, and accuracy reflecting organizational commitment. The two sources of information clearly convince especially on the organizational commitment towards establishing a sustainable environment. The annual report focuses much on environmental conservation while the website offers extensive information through the links and show the partner organizations in ensuring the achievement of such objectives. To some extent, it becomes difficult to establish whether the information is credible or not; however since the information on the report and website seem to tally, it is clear that the information expresses the genuine organizational status of ensuring effective environmental condition. Recommendation of Improving Image as a Green Company Ensuring environmental protection is not only the responsibility of the organization and other partnering institutions but also the role of internal employees. In every working set up, employees are the greatest organizational assets that require training and motivation. However, Mondi PLc focuses on collaborating with international organization and local institutions without focusing on employees. Besides, through investing in the potential of the employees, the company might reduce the expenses spent like for paying external EIA experts. Ensuring environmental quality is much more than allocating the funds, collaborating with other institutions, and developing environmental model systems. Therefore, the company needs to focus on both qualitative and quantities measures to prevent the escalation of the problems currently experienced. Plan implementation is crucial to ensure effectiveness and efficiency. As a paper producer, the company needs to have adequate measures of preventing the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Although Mondi PLc applies carbon sequestration method in South Africa, emission of such gasses might as well surpass the capacity of the ecosystem, which contributes, to environmental pollution. As a result, much emphasis should be on establishing forests in different locations with organizational branches to prevent accumulation of hazardous chemicals into the atmosphere. Environmental quality affects the health and wellbeing of people considering its inseparability from people’s health, availability, and quality of the resources, safe food, and water supply, and psychological wellbeing of the people. To the company, protecting environmental quality means the preservation of open spaces and prevention of pollution. However, the company needs to focus on other preservation mechanisms such as addressing habitat reduction, conservation of resources, searching alternating energy sources, practicing sustainable development, and paying much attention to environmental quality. Best Recommendation Focusing on the short-term strategies might offer the desired sustainable development as witnessed by the company. Therefore, the best-recommended actions include focusing on environmental advocacy and education. Virtually any strategic plan that aims to protect the environment quality needs to integrate an advocacy plan. Advocacy might begin through the persuasion of the legislators and politician to champion the cause. However, there is need to involve people from different backgrounds to acquire diversified opinions (Chambers & Green, 2005, 143). Through educating people on environmental issues, the company makes clearly the various thematic areas of the environment. All the stakeholders including the public, legislators, industries, and developers need to understand the actual consequences of different courses of action with regard to the environment. These practices would guarantee reduction in deterioration of environmental quality since it would become the responsibility of each stakeholder. References Chambers, W. B., & Green, J. F. 2005. Reforming international environmental governance: From institutional limits to innovative solutions. Tokyo: United Nations University Press. Friend, M. A., & Kohn, J. P. 2007. Fundamentals of occupational safety and health. Lanham, MD: Government Institutes. Mara, W. 2013. Environmental protection. New York: Children's Press. Mondi Group Limited. n.d. Forests and biodiversity | Responsible forestry | Environment | Sustainable development report 2012. Retrieved from http://sd- report.mondigroup.com/2012/environment/responsible-forestry/forests-and-biodiversity Mondi Group. 2012, September 4. Mondi - “As green as it gets”: Mondi Uncoated Fine Paper re-launches the Green Range. Retrieved from http://www.mondigroup.com/products/hu/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1346/345_read- 22438 . Read More