Innovation

Solaris Paper is environmentally responsible in the production of their tissue products. As explained in the company's videos, raw materials used for production come from Rapidly Renewable Fiber trees, such as eucalyptus and acacia trees, that are harvested every 6 years. These trees grow faster than old forest trees, thus generating more paper within a short amount of time. “We have 50 to 70 thousand square kilometers of forest under our control, so all our fiber is practically renewable. We plant one million trees a day in Indonesia” (Steve, 2018). Solaris Paper is strongly committed to Zero Deforestation by ending the clearing of natural forest across its entire supply chain.

It is critical for businesses to focus on the well-being of their human capital. At Solaris Paper, employees have very healthy eating conditions, and their health and safety are monitored on an ongoing basis. “We have over 70 thousand employees and we are very conscious of the social impact in terms of human rights” (Steve, 2018).

Solaris Paper engages in a variety of social events that support the health and well-being of the community. Necessities, such as toilet paper and wet wipes, are donated to Foodbank NSW Ltd to support individuals living in low economic resource households (Solaris Paper, 2009). Further commitments to health include fund-raising events and donations to support the research of mental health by the Australian Rotary Health (UN Global Compact Network Australia, 2016). Solaris Paper also contributes to achieving the goal of quality education. They give support to Holroyd High School who are working with refugee children to achieve accelerated language skills, education skills and achieving university entry (UN Global Compact Network Australia, 2016).

Inspiration

Satisfying the market need was a motivation for Solaris Paper to produce innovative products. Innovation came from developing product ranges for the retail market; a fiercely competitive oligopoly for tissue paper. “It’s a very competitive field. You had to innovate to develop a point of differentiation for the product to stand out” (Steve, 2018). To enter the market, Solaris Paper adopted a luxury approach to the brand, making bathroom tissue out of high-quality paper. As stated on the website, the company’s philosophy is “continue to drive innovation in the industry and continuously seek to exceed customer expectations”.

Sustainability is also a key inspiration behind the innovation. Solaris Paper is highly committed to Zero Deforestation to ensure that consumers have confidence in the company’s products. With guidance from NGOs, Solaris Paper and its partner APP declared a Forest Conservation Policy that restricts sourcing of fibre from natural forests other than plantation (Solaris Paper, 2009). Innovation was essential to develop new products that were purely made from the plantation fibre. “After the declaration, global NGOs have endorsed our sustainability and deforestation efforts” (Steve, 2018).

Overall impact

Producing environmentally friendly products played an important role in the company’s ongoing success. “As a socially, economically and environmentally responsible toilet tissue and paper towel distributor and supplier, our products are recognised as being the perfect choice by all our customers” (Solaris Paper, 2009).

Successful companies should implement sustainable practices into business models. In the case of Solaris Paper, the company adopted a vertical integrated approach to control and management over all production processes, forests, and the distribution process. Management of forests involves planting, harvesting and replanting of Rapid Renewable Fibre trees. These renewable trees are environmentally friendly as they take a shorter period to grow and take up less land. The long-term impact of this strategy was allowing the company to produce more through frequent harvesting and maintaining a Zero Deforestation tolerance.

Business benefit

The benefit of the innovation came from producing economies of scale. Large scales of production have made the factory a viable proposition to the business. Entering “retail through innovation and new product developments meant that it bought certainty and viability to our production investment” (Steve, 2018). Benefits from a large scale of production has opened investment opportunities for Solaris Paper to heavily invest over $30 million into the Australian Market (UN Global Compact Network Australia, 2016).

Customer satisfaction can be improved by increasing the value of the products. A “smaller core and more tissue” meant that consumers were gaining value from the capacity of the tissue. The amount of tissue has doubled so that consumers could reduce the number of roll replacements. Similarly, businesses can benefit from the positioning of their product in the market. Emporia, produced by Solaris Paper, is positioned as a high-end luxury brand in the retail market. The product currently occupies the most expensive shelves of Coles and Woolworths supermarkets. This success led to opportunities for new manufacturing plants in Australia. New production lines were launched at the Greystanes to increase the production of these successful products (Evans, 2015).

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Social and environmental benefit

Employees, consumers, and the community are highly valued and considered in all activities of the business. Solaris Paper have a sense of social responsibility to villagers surrounding their concessions and forests. “We look after the well-being and nutritional needs of our villagers. We have a great deal of training for villagers to focus on cash crops, such as dragon fruit and aloe vera” (Steve, 2018). The company goes beyond their responsibilities by sponsoring local high schools, food bank, and the Zest Award that is run by members of the community. Solaris Paper are developing a good social citizenship basis by engaging and supporting the community they operate in.
Environmental impacts should be considered when companies source raw materials. Solaris Paper takes pride in producing tissue products from sustainably sourced materials. All paper products are certified by the PEFC, the largest forest certification system in the world (UN Global Compact Network Australia, 2016). The certification ensures that fiber used in production are only sourced from the company’s plantation. “The impact on environment is very low” (Steve, 2018) for Solaris Paper as significant policies and certifications are keeping the company well within the boundary of being environmentally and socially responsible.

With the global advancements in technology, Solaris Paper hopes to develop better innovative product entries into the market. In the future, the company “will be delivering a safer and healthier product to the community” (Steve, 2018) and “leading the way to a greener future” (Solaris Paper, 2017).

Interview

Steve Nicholson, Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability