On 8 September 2017, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, Universal Paper Manufacturers (UPM) opened doors to their new Green Field Tissue Mill in Ga-Rankuwa outside Pretoria.
UPM and its sister company Universal Paper & Plastics (UPP) both hold FSC certification. UPP was established by the Sher family in 1950 and started as a manufacturer of various paper and plastic products. It has since grown and vertically integrated, by manufacturing raw materials within the inks and paper industries. Today, the focus is on high-quality printed serviettes and napkins, bathroom tissue, household towels and hankies.
“We are very happy to open this new Mill, it is our most advanced and state of the art facility to date and this has led to the increase demand for pulp. At UPM we have made it a point that all the pulp we buy is FSC certified. We have been FSC certified since January 2013 and we are proud about that.” said Jonathan Sher UPM Director
He added that UPM understands the importance of FSC and being certified and their push to register was further influenced by seeing paper manufactures in Europe being FSC certified.
“We like what FSC stands for, growing more forests rather than deforestation. I believe we were the second tissue manufacture to be certified in South Africa. The registration is also a marketing and selling point for us. We are advocates for the environment. We also promote the fact that we are FSC registered and we inform our customers about it on all our brand touch points this includes our packaging, our website and social media platforms” added Jonathan.
The Mill currently employs 322 people and has the fastest Tissue Paper Machine in the country, it covers 58 000 SQM of property, of which 35 000 SQM is undercover. The new factory produces 2000 tons of paper per month which is equivalent to 17 million toilet rolls. The length of paper produced annually is 788 400 km.