MONDI: Putting the Green in Pulp and Paper
As a global leader in the production of sustainable packaging and paper, Mondi has positioned itself at the forefront of the transition to circular materials and low-carbon manufacturing. “We are contributing to a better world through innovative solutions that are sustainable by design,” opens Transformation Director, Sandile Ngcobo.
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Headquartered in the UK with operations across more than 30 countries, the global Mondi group supplies innovative fibre-based packaging and paper solutions to customers across a broad range of industries, including e-commerce and consumer goods, as well as food and agriculture. It holds market-leading positions in kraft paper and paper bags globally, corrugated packaging across Europe, and regional strength in uncoated fine paper.
“The Mondi Way connects our 24,000 people through a shared sense of purpose,” the company explains. “We nurture an environment in which high performance, collaboration and innovation thrive, an inspiring, inclusive and safe workplace where we invest in the development of our people.”
Mondi’s business is fully integrated across the value chain, allowing it to develop and manufacture effective, innovative circular packaging and paper solutions, in close partnership with customers. “We are sustainable by design,” Mondi states, “an approach and a depth of expertise which helps customers to meet their sustainability goals and create a durable competitive advantage.”
LOCAL IMPACT
Mondi has been active in South Africa for almost 60 years, Transformation Director Sandile Ngcobo reveals, commencing operations in 1967 and currently with 1,500 in its employ. It plays a key role in supplying products across regional and international markets, operating large pulp and paper mills and managing extensive forestry resources across the country, providing raw materials for packaging, office paper and industrial paper products.
These products furnish sectors such as retail, agriculture, food and logistics, industries with the shared, increasing requirement of recyclable, fibre-based packaging solutions, as businesses everywhere transition away from plastic with some degree of urgency. “In our forestry segment, we manage around 250,000 hectares, dominated by fast-growing eucalyptus species, and from these we produce logs which then feed into our Richards Bay mill and operations,” Ngcobo details of the first of Mondi’s three primary business arms.
The second major part of its dealings is one of the largest and most technologically advanced pulp and paper production facilities in South Africa and specialising in the production of bleached hardwood pulp and containerboard, then used to manufacture packaging papers and other fibre-based products.
“A lot of that pulp then supplies our Merebank Mill, the third of our primary South African concerns, where we make uncoated fine paper including the premium South African brand, Mondi Rotatrim,” Ngcobo details. “With all of our products, the preference is to sell locally,” he adds, “but where necessary we also have the option to export in order to maximise value and minimise waste.”
It is Mondi’s Merebank Mill that has been the site of a major sustainability milestone for the South African sustainability forerunner, with the installation of a new steam turbine in the site’s power plant unlocking a significant increase in energy self-sufficiency and reduction in its environmental impact.
It is a substantial part of Mondi’s broader strategy to improve energy efficiency and strengthen operational resilience in South Africa, enabling the mill to generate 60% of its own electricity. “This project is a game-changer for the mill. By generating power on site we reduce our dependency on external electricity supply, reduce costs and take a step towards energy independence, climate resilience and long-term operational stability.”
POWERING SUSTAINABILITY
At Mondi’s Richards Bay mill, a 2021 investment upgrade to the energy plant succeeded in reducing Scope 1 and 2 Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 250,000 tonnes per year. Building on this, Ngcobo reveals, there has been a further landmark initiative to replace three coal‑fired boilers with a biomass alternative at the site. “These three boilers have have come to the end of their operational lives, and we are transitioning to a single, green energy, multi-fuel boiler.
“This Power Boiler 4 has a huge impact environmentally, in that it allows us to completely move away from using coal and fossil fuels and use exclusively green energy instead, relying on woody biomass to fuel our operations.” There is a secondary, equally important, reverberation to this modernisation drive, Ngcobo says. “We have around 4,000 small growers within our footprint, in neighbouring communities, from whom we will source the majority of that biofuel which will benefit them hugely. It creates a bran-new economy for these small growers.
“From small-scale growers to local manufacturing – every step reflects our commitment to sustainability and meaningful transformation.”
Sustainability sits at the centre of Mondi’s long-term strategy, embedded into its Mondi Action Plan 2030 (MAP2030) framework, in which the company has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, advancing circular packaging solutions and ensuring responsible fibre sourcing across its global operations. “Our purpose is to contribute to a better world by making innovative, sustainable packaging and paper solutions,” Ngcobo summarises.
“We believe that when we make sustainable solutions for our customers, and we run our operations in a sustainable way, that gives us the competitive edge. This is what it boils down to for us, and we chase sustainability in everything that we do.
“We are very aware that we are working within a fiercely competitive industry; pulp and paper involves some huge players around the world; keeping our costs as low as possible, while pioneering sustainable packaging innovation, is essential for us to compete and thrive in the space in the long-term.”
Sustainability is at the heart of Mondi’s strategy, and intrinsic to how it conducts business, with a central focus on circular driven solutions. “We are fostering climate resilience through our forest and operations, for the future of the planet,” concludes Ngcobo. “Our innovative, circular driven solutions that avoid waste are created by an empowered and inclusive team that contributes to a better world.”