More than two thirds of the energy required to produce Navigator is coming from biomass, i.e., the waste elements of the tree such as bark, knots and lignin (the “glue” that keeps the fibres together). Since this is a non-fossil source of energy, that means that Navigator is produced without causing high fossil emissions.

Whilst tree plantations (managed forests) do not have as much biodiversity as wild forests, they are much more economically useful and provide important jobs in the countryside. They also have more biodiversity than intensive annual crops such as wheat and maize, which disturb the topsoil, causing erosion.

In countries such as Portugal, with many small land-owners, managed eucalyptus globulus forests are small enough to provide cover for wildlife whilst co-existing with native species, such as cork oaks, green oaks and olive trees enabling wildlife to nest and feed. portugal’s forests grew 61% in the 20th century and currently cover more than 35% of the country, significantly more than the UK’s 12%. European forests (and especially Portugal’s) have been expanding quickly, to provide raw materials for pulp and paper, construction, biomass heating, etc.

So every time you use a Navigator ream, think positive: You are helping European forests grow and are NOT contributing to rain forest destruction.

The eu ecolabel (www.ecolabel.eu) covers sourcing of raw materials (like FSC™ or PEFC do) but also production, namely emissions, so it provides you more information on the environmental credibility of the product it refers to. It is a much more comprehensive system which tracks environmental aspects from wood to pulp and paper production.

One ton of paper (400 reams A4 in 80g) is produced with the wood of 20 average eucalyptus globulus trees. Thus, it takes about 5% of an eucalyptus globulus tree to make a ream of paper.

Recycling paper has a positive impact on this specific aspect, because each ton of paper we recycle is one less ton of paper that will end up in a landfill. Considering that paper is composed by around 80% of organic material, this part will naturally decompose while the remaining 20% are mineral charges which aren’t harmful to the environment.

“RECYCLING PAPER AVOIDS THAT IT ENDS UP IN A LANDFILL...”

Yes, The Navigator Company has its own forests and manages them sustainably. There are forest managers within the company who make sure the forests get the attention needed. Also, the management of The Navigator Company forests is certified by the two most important environmental certifications: FSC (Forest Stewardship Council®) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes) which means, from an environmental, economic and social perspective, our forests are managed responsibly and obey to strict, internationally recognized criteria.

The Navigator Company has a very active position in preventing forest fires. All year round, there is close monitoring of the forests, mainly regarding forest fuel management. During the forest fire season, dedicated surveillance and suppression teams are deployed, in a joint effort with private eucalyptus globulus producers. Furthermore, The Navigator Company works to increase public awareness in areas of higher risk and participates in meetings and national projects for the prevention of forest fires.

“DURING THE FOREST FIRE SEASON, DEDICATED SURVEILLANCE AND SUPPRESSION TEAMS ARE DEPLOYED...”

Often, after forest fires happen, we can still find wood suited for papermaking. Of course, this wood must undergo a more intensive preparation process in order to ensure the quality of the fibres and, of course, the quality of The Navigator Company products.

This is especially important because The Navigator Company cannot risk introducing pieces of burnt wood (charcoal) in the pulp-making process as it could affect large batches of production.

Fortunately, forest fires don’t usually happen in our forests because of the careful maintenance we provide them.

“...FORESTS BECAUSE OF THE CAREFUL MAINTENANCE WE PROVIDE THEM.”

Considering that we have integrated mills, producing pulp and paper, the energy to produce one ton of paper is around 900 kw/T, therefore one truck is equivalent to around 21 MW.

There are several types of waste coming out from our integrated paper mills and The Navigator Company strives for reducing and/or recovering it in the best possible way every year.

In general, The Navigator Company produces 107 kg of waste/ton of product (pulp +paper). Most of the waste is recovered (82% in 2013) in order to produce energy, to be recycled or to be used in agricultural applications and composting. This allows The Navigator Company to reduce resource consumption, environmental impact and manage costs efficiencly.

The most important parts of that waste is organic matter into water (4,4 kg of waste per ton of paper produced). Hazardous waste counts only for 0,2% of total waste per year and is sent for recovery, regeneration or elimination.

On average, to produce 1 ton of paper we need around 9 m3 of water. A large percentage of this water is reused after undergoing a treatment process and the remaining water becomes wastewater.

During the pulping and papermaking processes water is reused counter currently minimizing the amount of fresh water used and the final effluent flow.

The final wastewater that can’t be reused in the process undergoes both a primary and secondary treatment. In the end, it is discharged into the sea with a high dilution factor and in compliance with applicable environmental requirements.

“THE FINAL WASTEWATER THAT CAN’T BE REUSED IN THE PROCESS UNDERGOES BOTH A PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TREATMENT.”

The energy produced by The Navigator Company is enough for its own needs. In fact, aside of having self- sustaining mills, The Navigator Company even contributes towards national electrical energy needs, since 5% of Portugal’s electrical energy comes from The Navigator Company (January 2013).

Biomass (obtained from subproducts and process waste, like bark, black licor and sawdust) accounts for 68% of The Navigator Company energy (2013), being its primary power source. Natural gas and fuel oil, together with other energy sources, account for 29% and 3% respectively.

“…MAXIMUM PULP PAPERMAKING POTENTIAL.”

The Navigator Company has managed to recover forestry waste above 80%. The recovery applications go from energy production, recycling, agricultural use and composting. Some of those tree products just stay naturally in the forests in order to maintain the soil’s fertility.

“THE RECOVERY APPLICATIONS GO FROM ENERGY PRODUCTION, RECYCLING, AGRICULTURAL USE AND COMPOSTING.”

In total, The Navigator Company grows around 12 million plants every year in its forest nurseries. The diversity of plants is of the utmost importance for gPS and can be observed in its nurseries.

There you can find 30 different forest species and 130 ornamental and shrub species, not counting the 5 varieties of olive trees.

Portugal’s forest area is about 1/3 of the country’s territory. eucalyptus globulus occupies 26% of that area, where 7% of those trees are The Navigator Company property. However, pine and cork oak trees also occupy a big part of the Portuguese forests, being the cork tree (34%) even more common than the eucalyptus globulus and the pine tree (28%) almost as representative as eucalyptus globulus.

“…PINE AND CORK TREES ALSO OCCUPY A BIG PART OF THE PORTUGUESE FORESTS…”

Within the paper industry, health and environmental concerns are associated with the use of chlorines, known to be used as pulp bleachers to whiten pulp. Fortunately, nowadays, such processes are less common and companies such as The Navigator Company use chlorine free processes to reach desired whiteness levels.

At The Navigator Company, for instance, we use an Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) process, in which the bleaching process uses chlorine dioxide as a bleaching agent. ECF is a process with a BAT (Best Available Technique) status, which means it is a state-of-the-art process that meets the best results regarding environmental regulations. It is also known to deliver higher quality papers which, in the end, allows The Navigator Company to consume less energy and less wood and obtain a more recyclable product than other processes thanks to the better quality of the fibres.

“…PINE AND CORK TREES ALSO OCCUPY A BIG PART OF THE PORTUGUESE FORESTS…”

The Navigator Company emissions are basically NOx, SOx, CO, CO₂ and particles. These are monitored and treated in several ways. For instance, CO₂ emissions (which are the most relevant) are used to produce a paper additive, PCC (Precipitated Calcium Carbonate), so it won’t go to the atmosphere. The other emissions are also a concern for The Navigator Company and several actions have been taken to improve their control and prevention, mainly by upgrading systems and optimizing processes. For NOx reduction, for example, The Navigator Company has upgraded its biomass boiler.

“...BY UPGRADING SYSTEMS AND OPTIMIZING PROCESSES...”

An integrated paper mill has many benefits. Producing everything in the same site reduces costs significantly.

There are no pulp drying and transportation costs and it allows having a full process control adapted to the pulp characteristics in order to optimize paper costs. When pulp is dried, it loses some papermaking characteristics, which is also another reason why recycled fibres are worse than virgin fibres for paper production (together with the fact that each recycling operation impacts the fibres significantly). In an integrated mill we don’t need to use dried pulp to produce our papers, meaning we preserve the maximum pulp papermaking potential.

“…MAXIMUM PULP PAPERMAKING POTENTIAL.”

Fibres for recycled content papers are sourced from ‘pre-consumer’ or ‘post-consumer’ waste.

Pre-consumer material derives from the waste stream during the papermaking or converting processes, while post-consumer waste is generated by consumers after use.

Every year, The Navigator Company plants around 2,000 hectares in Portugal and invests €3 million in protecting forests against wildfires, making it by far the largest private contributor to forest protection in Portugal.

Forestry certification is a priority for the Company. Our forestry management model is certified by the two most widely recognised international systems - the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®C010852) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC 13-23-001). By implementing these certifications we are able to respond to the growing demands from end consumers as to the source of our forest-based products.

The European paper industry is committed to preserve biodiversity and rejects illegal logging, ensuring that forest growth is achieved in the most sustainable way. The Navigator Company is also dedicated to sustainable forest growth by owning Europe’s largest nurseries for certified forest plants - 12 million annually - and promoting different land uses with several forest species, conservation zones, vineyards, beekeeping and other agricultural activities.

At The Navigator Company we believe that sustainable forest management and the responsible use of forest products offer the most effective and cost-competitive natural carbon capture and storage system for helping to prevent climate change. The amount of carbon fixed in the forests we manage in Portugal is equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions generated by more than 1.5 million car journeys around the world.*

The Navigator Company promotes a low carbon business solutions aligned with the global climate action agenda: use of forest biomass, fossil fuels substitution, energy efficiency programs and optimisation of energy production and consumption.

* Assumptions: 5.8 tonnes equivalent to CO₂ fixed in the Company’s sustainably managed forests; 40,075 Km as earth perimeter; 0.093 kg equivalent to CO₂/Km as car emissions.

As a global sustainably driven company we constantly combine low carbon business solutions with the global climate change agenda. We have invested over €200 million in renewable energy: two biomass power stations and three cogeneration plants, fuelled by forest biomass. It is estimated that our power stations and cogeneration plants, powered by biomass energy, enable the reduction of more than 460,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually of Portugal’s carbon balance.

The Navigator Company has recently (2016) approved a plan that envisages specific energy efficiency measures and targets designed to reduce our consumption of electrical and thermal energy, thereby reducing CO₂ emissions of and helping to mitigate climate change within the framework of a low carbon economy.

Approximately 70% of the primary energy used to produce Navigator’s printing papers is from renewable sources (vs 57% for the European industry average), the equivalent to the consumption of more than half a million inhabitants. The Navigator Company is Portugal’s largest producer of biomass energy from biomass.

The Navigator Company uses renewable resources efficiently and on a cascade basis. The pulp and paper it we produces originates from certified forests which are constantly renewed. More than 90% of our raw materials are renewable, including forestry raw materials, and 70% of the energy consumed is derived from forestry biomass. The Navigator Company strives to cut waste production and seeks to incorporate and reuse waste in its production cycle, reclaiming it as by-products. We have a waste recovery rate of more than 80%. In Europe, we estimate our paper being used in more than four paper products over its life cycle.

The Navigator Company has an impact of €2,736 million on the Portuguese GDP, representing circa 3% of Portuguese export goods. Around 95% of our pulp and paper is exported to 130 countries. On average, each euro spent by our mills contributes to the generation of 3€ in the Portuguese economy and each job at our mills contributes to the creation of 15 jobs nationwide. Circa 74% of our purchases are made from domestic suppliers.

At The Navigator Company we care about people and local communities. Everything we do is line in harmony with our principles of development, cooperation and communication.

We provide specialist careers in areas ranging from forestry research to renewable energy management and paper production, being responsible for 31,128 skilled jobs, in our own workforce and indirectly across the economy. The majority of our employees are hired on permanent contracts (95%), reflecting our commitment towards stability and the local community.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability are at the core of The Navigator Company’s business model, highlighted by our investment in 2016 alone of 1.4 million euros in CSR projects.

Our CSR initiatives are spanned across three pillars: 1) we run projects and voluntary schemes to preserve natural heritage (examples include support to research projects designed to revitalise oyster populations and their farming in the Sado estuary and to provide agricultural support and health services programmes for the communities sponsored by our project in Mozambique), 2) we promote open communication engaging society in our commitment to improve our work practices in a sustainable way (Example : The Navigator Company´s Sustainability Forum) and 3) we partner with governments and institutions in our mission to preserve ecosystems and to promote environmental conservation (Example: WWF International – New Generations Plantations Platform).

“Give a Hand to the Forest” is a sustainability education programme designed to raise young people’s awareness about forestry protection and environmental conservation, a project which was awarded the APCE’s Best Social Responsibility Communication Campaign.

In 2016 this program mobilised a total of 2,145 children from all over Portugal, including workshops at nurseries and primary schools and the donation of more than 4,000 plants to the local communities. The event celebrates World Forests Day and Environment Day and is organised in partnership with local authorities.

The Navigator Company has several partnerships with non-governmental organisations and programs designed to promote global environmental conservation, including such as:

New Generations Plantations Platform, WWF International (http://newgenerationplantations.org/pt/).

Partnership with CEAI - Iberian Birdlife Research Centre.

Participation in POSF (Working Plan for Healthy Woodlands) with the Nature Conservation and Forests Institute(ICNF).

The Sustainability Forum is a project designed to debate sustainability issues and to improve cooperation amongst The Navigator Company’s main stakeholders. Participants include universities, NGO’s, customers, employees, suppliers, among others. Examples of themes discussed include: “Forest Fire Protection”; “The Socioeconomic Impact of Navigator´s Activity” and “Forest Certification”.

The Navigator Company is committed to transparency in all its activities, and is actively involved in a wide range of projects that reflect this policy. These include the Supplier’s Day event, the Sustainability Forum and the Code of Ethics and Good Conduct for Suppliers (2015). Navigator also co-chairs The Forest Solutions Group, the international WBCSD platform for strategic collaboration to promote sustainable forestry management (2016).