Asia Pacific Rayon (APR – part of the RGE Group)

Products: VSF / Rayon

Risk Status

Address Risk Prior Audit

Next Gen Solutions

Chemical Management (out of 8)

Hot Button Score (out of 40)

8 =

中文

Risk of sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests

Address Risk Prior Audit

APR continues to source more than 90% of its dissolving pulp from two high-risk Indonesian suppliers: Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd (APRIL) and Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL). These APR suppliers and their supply partners have a legacy of deforestation and conversion of natural forests and peatlands to monoculture plantations that has yet to be sufficiently remedied. APRIL’s plantations include operations on carbon-rich, drained tropical peatlands, and both APRIL and Toba Pulp have a history of disputes with local communities and land rights-holders.

As part of the Royal Golden Eagle Group (RGE), APR is a sister company to:

APRIL, the Indonesian pulp and paper producer and plantation company
Sateri, an MMCF producer based in China

The Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) mill in Indonesia, an APR supplier, is held by the same beneficial owner as RGE, the Tanoto family.

APR is willing to undertake a CanopyStyle Audit, however, the supply chain risks and concerns identified in sister company Sateri’s audit apply equally to APR (both sourcing from APRIL) and must be addressed and mitigated prior to further audits being initiated. APRIL is currently engaged in a Remedy Framework process with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in an effort to regain FSC certification. This framework would require the company to effectively address its legacy of both social and environmental harms. Additionally, recent information indicates APR supplier Toba Pulp has been logging protected forests within its concession boundaries. APR is encouraged to address this additional potential risk in its wood pulp sourcing.

APR’s Hot Button score has fluctuated in recent years, with some gains noted at times, increased risk at others. Overall, they remain at a yellow-red shirt due to risk in their supply chain.

Areas where company is showing leadership

Sourcing

Risks in supply have yet to be effectively addressed.
APR has a web-based tracking system that traces bales of fibre from concession-holder and plantation region to mill, then port.

Conservation

Encouraged RGE and key supplier APRIL to support conservation initiatives in the critically important Leuser Ecosystem. Progress has been made in 2024 through the purchase of a logging concession and efforts underway to secure conservation for the area.
APR supplier APRIL has established a conservation fund, wherein one US dollar for every tonne of production is allocated towards research and potential action on conservation and restoration activities.

Next Generation Solutions

APR has established an automated pilot plant to test Next Generation fibre inputs and blends and is investing in R&D into pre- and post-consumer waste fibre sourcing.
Parent company RGE established a five-year Research Centre project to develop new technologies for textile recycling, in partnership with Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Is researching potential sources of pre-consumer textile waste supply in three countries.

Key Improvements Required

As part of the RGE family of companies, APR is well-positioned to advocate internally for substantive change in the practices of its primary suppliers to address identified risks, including encouraging APRIL and TPL to:

Address the legacy of forest conversion and associated environmental impacts by increasing the restoration and protection of high-carbon peatlands within its operating land base.
Set targets and timelines to retire and restore high-carbon peatlands within concession boundaries.
Scale up Next Generation technologies, innovation, and production while reducing reliance on forest-derived fibre.
Implement concrete and effective measures to remediate or provide restitution for adverse environmental and social impacts, including resolving conflict with traditional and local communities.
Ensure all supply partners and open-market suppliers are not associated with the conversion of natural forests to plantations.
Reinstate the 2015 cutoff date for any fibre sourcing associated with deforestation into RGE, APR and all forestry-related affiliates’ sourcing policies.

Facilities

Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) opened its mill in 2019 in Kerinci, Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia.

Current production capacity is 300,000 tonnes of viscose staple fibre. In 2021 APR publicly announced funding was secured to double production to 544,311 tonnes, however, the timeline for expansion is presently unclear.

In 2020, Asia Pacific Yarn was opened, adjacent to and sourcing VSF from APR.

APR has one facility that has been registered on the ZDHC platform and has been assessed at the progressive level in all three criteria related to chemical management: chemical recovery, wastewater discharge, and air emissions.