Enviva revises global sourcing policy to enhance sustainability

Enviva Holdings, LP, the world’s largest producer of industrial wood pellets, in partnership with the Earthworm Foundation, today announced that it is enhancing its responsible sourcing policy to better accomplish its commitment to the highest possible standards in sustainability.

Today’s announcement is part of Enviva’s long-standing pledge to continuously improve environmental performance and will serve as a framework for further improvements over many years to come. “As a leader in sustainability within the forest products sector, Enviva recognizes its critical role in ensuring forest and ecosystem health, and our sourcing policies and practices reflect this,” said Dr. Jennifer Jenkins, vice-president and chief sustainability officer of Enviva. “As countries continue to look to replace coal with renewable alternatives, we expect the demand for wood biomass to continue to grow. Enviva’s stakeholders can have confidence that all of the wood we use in our operations meets the highest international sustainability sourcing standards.”

“We commend Enviva for taking this important step to maintain and enhance important ecological and social values in their sourcing areas. With the public implementation plans and progress reporting that accompany this policy, they are not only increasing their standards for sustainability, but for transparency as well,” said Bastien Sachet, CEO of the Earthworm Foundation (formerly The Forest Trust), a global non–profit organization which helps companies transform their supply chains across the world for the benefit of people and nature.

Enviva solicited feedback from independent organizations, including NGOs, state wildlife agencies, foresters, and other stakeholders. This feedback and ongoing collaboration resulted in specific tangible goals and implementation plans that will be reviewed twice annually to track progress and to assess relevance and significance.

One of these collaborations is with The Longleaf Alliance, which is dedicated to restoring the longleaf ecosystems in the Southeastern United States. Enviva is partnering with The Longleaf Alliance and other organizations to help restore the critical longleaf pine forest ecosystems around its plants, beginning with a pilot project near Enviva’s new Hamlet plant in Richmond County, North Carolina.

“The Longleaf Alliance is excited to be working with Enviva on the restoration of longleaf stands,” said Longleaf Alliance President Robert Abernethy. “We believe that working together, we can restore longleaf in the landscape surrounding Enviva’s plants while providing income for the landowners in the area and a source of wood for the mill. We are laying the groundwork for what will be a model of forest restoration and utilization, and we applaud Enviva’s efforts.”

Through the new responsible sourcing policy, Enviva will enhance and expand its High Conservation Value (HCV) forest policy and practices to ensure that Enviva is protecting and/or improving the wide range of HCV forests in its sourcing regions.

To see the Company’s revised policy, click here.