Cascades Inc. (CAS-T) is targeting increased sustainable sourcing, a more transparent supply chain and continued efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its operations in its latest five-year sustainability plan for 2026 to 2030.

The Kingsey Falls, Que.-based hygiene products and packaging producer unveiled its fifth sustainability plan in mid-June. It outlines ambitions to have all of its virgin fibre and paper supplies be at low risk of deforestation, shrink use of drinking water in its mills and reduce operational carbon emissions.

For its supply chain, Cascades plans to better understand the carbon emissions from its sourcing and disclose the carbon footprint of priority products to its clients.

“It’s one of the targets that really stands out in this plan as ambitious but also makes us stand out from the paper industry,” Mélanie St-Pierre, Cascades’ corporate director of sustainability, said about the Product Carbon Footprints project in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada.

Cascades is one of North America’s largest tissue paper and containerboard producers, with 60 facilities on the continent and almost 9,000 employees.

Avoiding deforestation

Cascades set a goal to raise its percentage of purchased virgin fibres and paper supplies at low risk of deforestation and conversion of natural ecosystems from 50.1 per cent in 2025 to 100 per cent in 2030.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Mix label has been prioritized by the company to demonstrate its commitment to responsible forest management, St-Pierre said. But with new market regulations and customer expectations, Cascades sees the FSC Mix as not a full guarantee of avoided deforestation in its value chain.

To cover gaps, the company plans to work with independent organizations to review its sourcing for raw materials such as wood fibres and virgin pulp under criteria like country of origin. If risks of deforestation or nature conversion are found, Cascades expects to understand the supplier’s forest management practices with the help of a third-party organization, and encourage action if it does not meet its standards.

Taking on a bigger challenge for carbon emissions

Cascades has replaced its effluent target from the last five-year plan with a goal to use five per cent less potable water in its mills. Having reduced its effluent output to the point where it would affect its production if cut further, Cascades has shifted to addressing drinking water, St-Pierre said.

The strategy starts with mapping out potable water use in Cascades mills and implementing projects such as closed-loop water systems that recirculate the resource in the facilities.

Another operational target focuses on Cascades’s greenhouse gas emissions. Its ambition is to slash its Scope 1 (sources owned or controlled by Cascades) and 2 (energy purchases and consumption) emissions by 67.2 per cent by 2035 compared to 2019.

Since 2019, Cascades’ Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions have decreased by 32.6 per cent through efforts like increased energy efficiency, closing underperforming assets and installing electrification equipment in Quebec, St-Pierre said.

To reach its 2035 goals, the company plans to continue those efforts, like improving energy efficiency of its mills, securing new renewable electricity supply contracts and employing devices like heat pumps.

St-Pierre noted the carbon emission targets in 2021-25 sustainability plan were intensity metrics, which have since changed to an absolute figure due to methodological changes from the Science-Based Targets initiative under which its targets have been approved.

“The challenge is even bigger, but we decided to take this challenge,” she said. Cascades is on track to meet its 2035 target for Scope 1 and 2 emissions, St-Pierre added.

Expanded Scope 3 data to strengthen customer relations

For Cascades’ Scope 3 (supply chain) emissions, its goal is a 41.3 per cent reduction for some categories against a 2019 baseline.

Scope 3 has historically made up the majority of the company’s carbon emissions profile. Through increased operational efficiencies, reduced energy consumption and changes to its assets, Cascades has cut its Scope 3 emissions by 10.8 per cent between 2019 and 2025.

Collaboration with suppliers will be critical to tackle the issue, St-Pierre said. Cascades has identified the top emitters among its suppliers and plans to be working with them in the years to come, discussing pathways, decarbonization strategies and obtaining primary data. Its suppliers are to be informed Cascades wants carbon reductions in the long haul and as part of their contractual relationship, she explained.

On the other side of the supply chain, Cascades is aspiring to share a detailed carbon footprint for 100 per cent of 21 priority products such as paper towels and toilet paper by 2030. This would let its customers gain a deeper insight into the environmental footprint of Cascades products.

The Product Carbon Footprints initiative is expected to strengthen Cascades’ relationship with many of its customers “because they see that we have similar visions, similar priorities going forward in regards to climate change,” St-Pierre said.