Tangshan Sanyou’s CanopyStyle Audit: Results Released

CHINA-BASED PRODUCER COMPLETE VERIFICATION BY THE RAINFOREST ALLIANCE ASSESSING VISCOSE RAW MATERIAL SOURCING RISK

June 29, 2018. Tangshan (China), New York and Vancouver Today, environmental not-for-profit organizations Canopy and the Rainforest Alliance released the independent verification audit results of Tangshan Sanyou’s pulp sourcing. The company leads Chinese viscose producers by being one of the first viscose fiber producers headquartered in the country to complete the CanopyStyle Audit.

The audit report verifies that Tangshan Sanyou has taken immediate action to remove risks in their supply chain that were known and identified. However, the audit was unable to determine an overall result of low risk of sourcing wood from ancient and endangered forests, due to incomplete information from some of Sanyou’s dissolving pulp suppliers on their raw materials sourcing.

Tangshan Sanyou relies on more than a dozen suppliers of wood pulp, distributed in more than ten countries and various continents such as Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America. The audit report reveals the complexity of identifying the forest of origin of the wood pulp supply chain. More information is required from Tangshan Sanyou’s dissolving pulp suppliers, and the company is actively working to overcome this gap and to improve transparency of its raw material sourcing.

“Canopy welcomes the efforts made by Tangshan Sanyou to contribute to ending the use of endangered forests in fabrics,” said Nicole Rycroft, Canopy’s Executive Director. “Knowing that Tangshan Sanyou has taken actions to address their known supply chain risk and is seeking further transparency about the forest of origin of all of their suppliers is welcome progress to help them advance on the path to fulfill their CanopyStyle commitments.”

“The Rainforest Alliance is proud to participate in this important initiative that furthers our mission to conserve biodiversity and help ensure sustainable livelihoods,” stated Richard Donovan, Rainforest Alliance Senior Vice President/Vice President Forestry. “Our role includes serving as the trusted auditor, helping drive the sustainable use of non-timber forest elements in fashion, and independently evaluating Sanyou’s progress. We conduct field evaluations, analyze and report on the progress required, and deliver audit results that are a snapshot in time, highlighting commitments met and areas for improvement.”

“These audit findings are of immense value, offering us an opportunity to learn about the impact of our supply on global forests, highlighting areas where we shine as well as areas where we can make improvements to become a more responsible business,” said Yu Han Jiang, Vice General Manager of Tangshan Sanyou. “It is our hope that all of our peers in the viscose manufacturing sector will undertake a similar audit assessment, increasing responsiveness and collaboration from more dissolving pulp suppliers.”

Key findings of Sanyou’s audit include:

• Evidence confirming that Tangshan Sanyou Xingda Chemical Fibre Co. Ltd is investing work and resources to implement the commitments of its policy, consistent with the solutions and targets of the CanopyStyle initiative.
• There are information gaps in the supply chain due to some of Sanyou’s dissolving pulp suppliers providing incomplete information on raw materials sourcing.
• Some of the suppliers listed are sourcing from geographic areas that are in proximity to ancient and endangered forests.
• Since this audit was completed, Sanyou has been making efforts to collect, identify and assess the forest of origin.
• Sanyou needs to continue to implement internal verification procedures to identify, confirm and track the forest origin for the majority of its suppliers, along with appropriate certification claims.

Moving forward, the report suggests the company could improve their annual audit results by:

• Collecting forest of origin information including GPS points, GIS coordinates and/or shapefiles from its dissolving pulp suppliers, which will allow for an overlay with the forthcoming Canopy ForestMapper of ancient and endangered forests.
• Ensuring suppliers hold certification, with a preference for fiber from Forest Stewardship Council certified forests.
• Sourcing materials that come with certification claims, to further guarantee that materials are coming from the certified scope of the supplier and supply chain. Sanyou is increasing the procurement amount of certified pulp.
• Participating in ongoing regular audits, and/or random site visits, will be essential to ensure that Sanyou continues to implement their policy and meets the expectations of the CanopyStyle initiative.

 

The audit uses a risk-based approach and requires verifiable evidence that wood and pulp used by Sanyou to produce fabric and fibers (such as viscose and rayon) fulfill a robust verification framework and audit process developed by Canopy in partnership with the auditors, Rainforest Alliance.

 

The public reports from audit evaluations of Sanyou’s operations are available for download here: https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/business/sites/default/files/site-documents/forestry/documents/Tangshan-Sanyou-CanopyStyle-Audit-Report16PublicFinal.pdf https://www.ts-sanyou.com.cn/syhx/upload/2018/6/28163310873.pdf   For more Information:  

Josée Breton
Canopy +1 418 575-9654
North America

 

Brittany Wienke
Rainforest Alliance +1- 646 452-1939 North America Bernie Chou
Tangshan Sanyou +86 315 8333911
Asia

  The Rainforest Alliance The Rainforest Alliance, which celebrated its 30 ^th anniversary in 2017, is an international non-profit organization that works around the world to conserve forests and natural resources while advancing sustainable livelihoods through a focus on transforming land use practices, business practices, and consumer behavior. This CanopyStyle Audit was conducted by auditors from the Rainforest Alliance certification division, which since 1989 has provided expert certification in farm and forestry sectors, as well as assurance services. To learn more about the Rainforest Alliance, visit www.rainforest-alliance.org   Canopy Canopy is an international not-for-profit environmental organization dedicated to protecting our forests, species and climate. Canopy collaborates with more than 750 companies to develop innovative solutions, to make their fibre supply chains more sustainable, and to help protect our world’s remaining ancient and endangered forests. Canopy’s partners include H&M, Sprint, Penguin Random House, Zara, TC Transcontinental, The Globe and Mail , and Scholastic. Canopy’s work relies on the support of individual donors who share our passion for the planet. www.canopyplanet.org   Tangshan Sanyou As one of the world’s well-known manufacturer in the viscose fiber market,Sanyou can produce about 800,000 metric ton of viscose fiber per annum. Sanyou adheres to the concept of green development,which is striving to build an environment-firendly enterprise. Sustainability has always been a natural part of our daily activities. Sanyou launched its Dissolving Pulp Procurement Policy in 2015. Sanyou has passed and achieved the STeP by OEKO-TEX® ,STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® ,FSC COC certification.Sanyou,as one of the initiator,has joined in the CV together with other members to improve sustainability. In 2018,Sanyou has finished the transformation of 2015 edition quality management and environmental management system, and passed ISO9001,ISO14001,OHSAS18001 certificate. https://www.ts-sanyou.com.cn/