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

Products: VSF / Rayon

Risk Status
Address Risk Prior to Audit
Next Gen Solutions
Chemical Management (out of 8)
8
Hot Button Score (out of 40)
7.5 =
中文

Risk of sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests

Address Risk Prior to 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). The Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) mill in Indonesia is held by the same beneficial owner as APR and the Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) Group, the Tanoto family. APR suppliers and their partners carry a legacy of deforestation and the conversion of natural forests and peatlands into monoculture plantations — a problem that remains insufficiently addressed. APRIL’s plantations operate on carbon-rich, drained tropical peatlands, and both APRIL and Toba Pulp have a history of conflicts 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.
  • Bracell, a Dissolving Pulp facility in Brazil.

Parent company RGE has been subject to numerous claims over the past three years of being associated with deforestation of high-carbon forests in Kalimantan — claims the company has denied.

The inclusion of red in a producer’s shirt rating — be it partially red or completely red — indicates risk of sourcing from high-carbon and biodiverse forests.  

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.

Areas where company is showing leadership

  • APR has engaged in dialogue with Canopy and customer brands about reducing or mitigating the risks currently associated with its sourcing. Risks have yet to be effectively addressed. 
  • APR has encouraged RGE and key supplier APRIL to support conservation initiatives in the critically important Leuser Ecosystem. In the past, concrete progress was made on individual concessions, however progress in securing concessions for conservation has encountered roadblocks in the past year and outcomes remain uncertain. 
  • APR supplier APRIL has established a conservation fund, wherein one dollar for every tonne of production is allocated towards research and potential action on conservation and restoration activities.
  • 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. 
  • RGE and APR have been undertaking research into the potential of post-consumer waste textiles collection as part of RGE’s five-year Research Centre project to develop new technologies for textile recycling. 

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.
  • Commit to full transparency within the FSC Remedy Process in the identification of members of the RGE /APRIL Corporate Group. Properly applied, a credible Remedy Framework would require the company to effectively address its legacy of both social and environmental harms, include full transparency of the entire Corporate Group, and have the support of Civil Society Organizations in Indonesia. 
  • Significantly scale the use of Next Generation Solutions in order to reduce current impacts on forests.  Prioritize the integration and sourcing of Next Generation Solution technologies and feedstocks for future expansion plans and new suppliers.

APR can also:

  • Encourage sharing publicly APRIL’s planned production expansion, in particular through more open sharing of detailed information on long-term fibre sourcing plans. 
  • Ensure all supply partners and open-market suppliers are not associated with deforestation or the conversion of natural forests to plantations. 
  • Proactively use ForestMapper and complementary guidance to avoid sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests, and work to acquire further information from suppliers.

Facilities

Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) opened its mill in 2019 in Pangkalan 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, and this 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. As a result, APR has a dark green flask.

POLICYAUDIT REPORTLIST OF SUPPLIERS

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Hot Button Score

7.5 =

  1. Completion of CanopyStyle Third-Party Verification Audits

    1. Conducts Audits 1/2
    2. Audits published and results acted on0/2
    3. Audit risk results0/2

  2. Contribution to Conservation Legacies

    1. Promotes Ancient and Endangered Forest conservation1/2
    2. Supports conservation targets 0/1
    3. Influences supply chain and decision makers1/2
    4. Contributes to legislated protection1/2
    5. Extra responsibility: additional support for conservation1/2

  3. Innovation via New Alternative Fibres

    1. Advocates for Next Gen 1/1
    2. Invests in R&D1/1
    3. Has a commercial-scale product 0/2
    4. Publishes targets and timelines0.5/2
    5. Uses Next Gen pulp0/1
    6. Proportional contribution0/2
    7. Implementing ambitious scale-up0/2

  4. Adoption of Robust Forest Sourcing Policy

    1. Has a policy2/2
    2. Policy aligns with CanopyStyle0.5/2

  5. Traceability & Transparency

    1. Has track and trace systems0/1
    2. Publishes list of suppliers2/2
    3. Conducts due diligence in sourcing0/2

  6. Leaders in Supply Chain Shifts

    1. Is responsive and proactive0/1
    2. Acts on FSC preference 0/1
    3. Supports ForestMapper0/1
    4. Addresses risk0/2

  7. Associated with High Risk of Sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests and other Controversial Sources

    1. High risk sourcing-4.5/-5

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Sustainable Chemical Management

8

  1. Participation in ZDHC

    The company is an active participant in ZDHC, where all of their MMCF facilities have joined the ZDHC Supplier Platform and have access to the MMCF Module. 2/2

  2. Chemical Recovery

    All of the company’s MMCF viscose staple fibre and modal staple fibre facilities have reached at least the Progressive level in their chemical recovery parameters and limit value, according to Chapter 1: ZDHC MMCF Responsible Fibre Production Guidelines V2.22/2

  3. Wastewater

    All of the company’s MMCF viscose staple fibre and modal staple fibre facilities have reached at least the Progressive level in their wastewater discharge parameters and limit values, according to Chapter 2: ZDHC MMCF Wastewater Guidelines V2.22/2

  4. Air Emissions

    All of the company’s viscose staple fibre and modal staple fibre facilities have reached at least the Progressive level in their hazardous chemicals’ air emissions parameters and limit values, according to Chapter 3: ZDHC MMCF Air Emissions Guidelines V2.22/2

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