Our Position
Paper manufacturing requires significant infrastructure and capital investment. At the same time, the company and the communities we belong to are continually looking for improvements in environmental performance. This means that we need to be able to anticipate and respond to our own manufacturing requirements as well as the needs of the community.

Rather than simply obey codes of practice or other standards, we have established a culture of environmentally responsible behaviour and continuous improvement throughout the company. This culture is supported by external auditing.

Our operations are based on ISO 14001 and ISO 9001/2 standards. These are independent, international measures of the environmental and quality performance of the company. Each of our Mills has developed and maintains environmental and quality systems that are based on the unique environmental, ecological and geographic conditions of their region. Assessment of these systems is undertaken by SAI Global (SAI) and Det Norske Veritas (DNV); recognised world leaders in environmental auditing.

All four Mills have been certified to ISO 14001 standards since 2001 and have been regularly audited for re-certification since that time. In over 41 audits, our Mills have not received a major non-conformance and have been deemed to be fully compliant with EMS and ISO practices. Where minor non-conformances were identified in these audits, they have been quickly rectified.

Our Performance
From as early as 1994, Australian Paper has had its operations independently assessed. Our audit reports are publicly available and document our journey of continuous improvement.

All operational managers are required to participate in audits, answering specific questions, detailing management systems, providing compliance data and highlighting areas for improvement.

Environmental performance targets are reviewed by regulators including the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment. Our direction and performance is also reviewed by Community Consultative Committees at each of our sites.

New environmental standards are emerging in Europe and are identified on European products available in Australia. One of the newer environmental standards is the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). Participation in the EMAS is only open to companies located in the European Union Member States and other countries of the European Economic Area. As PaperlinX, Australian Paper's parent company, is based in Australia and listed exclusively on the Australian Stock Exchange, we are not able to participate in EMAS. However, our systems are of an equivalent standard to those of EMAS and our processes and practices are independently audited to ensure that customers can be confident of the highest possible environmental standards.