Sappi

De Europese papierindustrie staat voor een fundamentele keuze: aanpassen aan een veranderende markt of het risico lopen waardevolle industriële capaciteit te verliezen. De vraag naar grafisch papier daalt structureel; tegelijkertijd blijven de energie- en verduurzamingskosten onveranderd hoog. Als we onze industrie toekomstbestendig willen houden, moeten we durven veranderen. Want er staat meer op het spel dan papierproductie alleen: dit gaat om een Europese waardeketen met kennis, innovatie en werkgelegenheid. Stilstaan is definitief achteruitgaan! In deze video deel ik mijn visie op de toekomst van onze industrie.

Just as a tree grows from a tiny seed, an AI image starts with one simple prompt. Somewhere between that prompt and the masterpiece, a new medium is emerging. Max Kuwertz is the Berlin-based designer behind Spells – a book series that captures AI-generated art alongside the exact prompts that created it, letting us experience not just the image, but the imagination behind it. Fittingly, each volume is printed on Sappi paper – grounding something born entirely in code into something grown in nature. At Sappi, we celebrate the care that goes into shepherding every tree towards its unique purpose - to create something that is truly made for life.

Europe's industrial resilience depends on more than ambitious sustainability goals. It also depends on long-term confidence. In forestry, decisions are measured in decades. You don't plant a tree for the next two years, but for the next 20, 50 or 60 years. The same applies to industrial investment. If we want to keep manufacturing viable and competitive in Europe, businesses need the predictability to invest for the long term.

Europe’s industrial base plays a vital role in driving employment, innovation and economic prosperity, while supporting the transition to a more sustainable future. For companies to continue investing, transforming and growing, a predictable policy environment and constructive dialogue between industry and policymakers are essential. Hear more from Sappi Europe's CEO Marco Eikelenboom below. https://brnw.ch/21x6q6H

When the right question is asked at the right time, boundaries between disciplines begin to fall away. In the mid-1990s, a conversation between Mary Scholes and a Sappi chairman started with a simple question: “Do you have anybody here that works on plants?” From that moment, Mary saw an opportunity to do more than advance her own research. She began building connections across disciplines, bringing together scientists to better understand forests, climate and the systems that link them. Over the decades that followed, that decision helped build a community spanning genetics, plant physiology and climate modelling, strengthening forestry’s ability to respond to a changing world. Mary’s work shows that progress does not happen in isolation. It grows through connection, a principle that continues to shape how Sappi engages with science, people and the natural world.

Giovanni's experience at Sappi has grown in ways he never could have predicted when he first joined in 1995. Though his roles have changed - he is now Head of Sustainability at Sappi Southern Africa - what has remained constant throughout his career is that, in forestry, every decision carries long-term consequences: “You’re always working with time, and you don’t get quick feedback.” Today, that long-term thinking shapes work that reaches far beyond the forest itself.