The Power of Many: Domtar's Strategy of Long Term Partnerships

The Power of Many: Domtar’s Strategy of Long Term Partnerships

Submitted: The Two Sides Team August 2, 2012

Just Means Blog

Interesting things happen when a determined group of people get
together. The power of collaboration should not be underestimated. I was
reminded of this in a recent conversation with Lewis Fix, VP
Sustainable Business & Brand Management at Domtar Corporation. For
Domtar, long-term partnerships with environmental groups are part of
everyday business.
Domtar is in the business of fiber-based products. That means trees make
the key ingredient for manufactured goods. Instead of what has been a
historically contentious relationship with environmental groups, the
company has sought to strengthen partnerships. Building trust takes time
and a whole lot of effort. Lewis Fix provided me with insights into
Domtar’s collaborative work for over a decade.

Turning point – From Collaboration to Commitments

Domtar’s participation in Ontario’s Living Legacy Land Use Plan (widely known as Lands for Life)
was pivotal for establishing the company’s present day collaborative
approach. The multi-stakeholder initiative was tasked with creating an
outline for a strategic direction for the management of 39 million
hectares of Ontario’s Crown lands and waters. The initiative, Fix notes,
“opened the company to deeper collaborations. The path forward became
very clear.”

During the
Lands for Life planning process, Domtar observed that NGOs were most interested in Forest Stewardship Council^TM
(FSC®) certification as a standard for good forest management. For the
company, it made sense to pursue further collaborative work. On the
Domtar’s choice to certify its forests with FSC, Fix explains: “We
realized that increasingly, NGOs are going to influence what companies
are doing. There’s a heightened awareness around the forestry sector,
for various environmental and social reasons. A third-party
certification such as FSC was well supported by those around the table
and became the right choice. It also defined leadership, and a breaking
away from industry to pursue certification.”

Linking Sustainable Forests with the Business Case

As a business, Domtar also recognizes the positive implications of FSC
certification to its bottom line. Since products are traded globally,
certifying with FSC – the only international standard of its kind –
lends credibility to both company and its goods. “FSC helps
differentiate products. Any bit of differentiation that a company could
give its customers – that’s a good thing,” Fix remarks.

Through Lands for Life, a collaborative long-term relationship developed
between WWF Canada and Domtar. WWF has been working with Domtar since
2003, to help strengthen its commitments to pursue FSC certification for
all of the forests it owns, operates and manages. The company also
committed to help identify significant areas for protection on its
lands, as well as increase the amount of FSC certified fiber it procures
from suppliers.

The Rainforest Alliance represents another long-term collaboration. The
partnership began in 2000 with the FSC certification of Domtar
forestlands in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, awarded by
the Rainforest Alliance’s SmartWood Program.

“Forest certification is complex and is not well understood in the
consumer context,” Fix says. “NGO logos such as the panda for WWF, or
the green frog for Rainforest Alliance are well recognized among
consumer groups.” Fix remarks that having both logos on the Domtar
product line signifies a special milestone for company – a proud
achievement.

Watch: 3BL Media’s video Today’s Paper Chase: To Print or Not to Print, According to Domtar

This is part II of my conversation with Domtar’s Lewis Fix. Read
Part I: Seeing the Forest with Trees: Domtar’s Drive for Sustainable Paper Lifecycle