Sustainability FAQ
FAQ
Our sustainability strategy is founded on two basic principles – focus and organizational ownership. Through this strategy, we emphasize six areas – greenhouse gases, waste, ethical business practices, equal opportunity, public health and child labor – areas where we believe we have the ability to directly or indirectly influence meaningful outcomes or where adverse developments could have a negative impact on our businesses. Our Code of Conduct forms a foundation for our sustainability approach and efforts throughout the Group. It represents the commitment of Swedish Match and all of our employees to conduct business activities in a responsible manner, demonstrating integrity and respect to our stakeholders and society as a whole.
Our focus areas form the basis for our common roadmap; this is where we put extra effort and coordinate external reporting of our progress. Swedish Match is a global company made up of largely autonomous operating units. We take a common group approach in our focus areas, while maintaining a number of sustainability initiatives above and beyond these focus areas with tailored targets and actions at the divisional/operating unit levels. Sustainability work spans across a broad array of topics, and for best impact and transparency we believe that group-wide efforts and reporting are most effective if concentrated to key areas of focus.
The Company's CFO is responsible for sustainability issues at Swedish Match.
Swedish Match develops, manufactures, and sells quality products with market-leading brands. The Company’s product segments are Smokefree, Cigars, and Lights. With its vision of a world without cigarettes, the Company is dedicated to the improvement of public health by offering attractive alternatives to cigarettes with its smokeless products.
Swedish Match is dependent on having relevance and size to reach new markets. A portfolio of various products is needed to be able to reach markets in the US and to successfully reach out with snus and nicotine products without tobacco.
Our six focus areas and overall goals are:
Improve public health. Our goal is to eliminate cigarette use and tobacco related morbidity and mortality by offering smokers attractive sources of nicotine for recreational use (such as Swedish snus and other nicotine containing products like ZYN).
Ensure ethical business practices. At Swedish Match, we will take the necessary steps to ensure that ethical business practices are maintained within our own company and in our relationships with all outside parties.
Equal opportunity. Our continuing objective is to be a truly open and inclusive employer. In this environment, with zero tolerance for discrimination, all employees have equal opportunity to achieve their full potential – resulting in a more diverse workplace.
Reduce greenhouse gases. Our goal is to reflect the commitments outlined in the Paris Agreement and thereby reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in our value chain.
Reduce waste. Our goal is to reduce waste generated at our own production facilities.
Eliminate child labor. Our goal is the elimination of child labor in the Company’s value chain.
Swedish Match most recent materiality analysis was conducted in 2016 and formed the basis for our 6 identified focus areas. Read about the process on Stakeholder dialog and materiality analysis.
Our focus areas form the basis for our common roadmap; this is where we put extra effort and coordinate external reporting of our progress. Swedish Match is a global company made up of largely autonomous operating units. We take a common group approach in our focus areas, while maintaining a number of sustainability initiatives above and beyond these focus areas with tailored targets and actions at the divisional/operating unit levels. Sustainability work spans across a broad array of topics, and for best impact and transparency we believe that group-wide efforts and reporting are most effective if concentrated to key areas of focus.
Our six sustainability focus areas and our overall sustainability strategy contribute to eight of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are the areas that are material to the Company and where we believe we can have a positive impact. Please see Swedish Match’s annual report, page 37, for more information.
Since 2007, Swedish Match contributes with data for greenhouse gas emissions in a global annual review administrated by the non-profit organization CDP.
All products are not for everyone and some consumer groups should not use certain products. This is particularly true for tobacco and other nicotine containing products which are intended for adult use only. Certain other consumer groups are also deemed vulnerable.
For tobacco and nicotine containing products, Swedish Match has an “Adult only policy” which firmly states that all such products shall only be marketed and sold to adults of legal tobacco age in each market. If the legal tobacco age in any market is below 18, Swedish Match shall still adhere to a policy of 18 years of age or over. This means that we shall not direct any marketing, advertising or promotion of tobacco and other nicotine containing products to persons under the age of 18 or the legal tobacco age if it is higher. We are committed to educating, informing and cooperating with retailers, distributors and public officials to prevent the underage use of tobacco and other nicotine containing products. Where it is legal, we may sell and market our products online and use face to face marketing and sampling, but only to age verified adults.
Swedish Match’s Code of Conduct is available on the Company’s website.
The Code consists of several topics related to the following four areas:
Our people: Swedish Match respects its employees and their human rights, and supports internationally proclaimed human rights conventions and guidelines wherever we operate. Our policy on human rights and employment practices is based on local and international labor laws, recommended practices and guidelines.
Our business: Swedish Match is committed to sound business ethics in all our business activities and relations with stakeholders, both within our own operations but also with regard to outside parties. We build relationships through honesty and integrity and we respect the laws and regulations in the countries in which we operate.
Our environment: Swedish Match promotes sound changes that reduce environmental impacts caused by our operations and we encourage our employees to be conscious and proactive in minimizing these impacts. We undertake programs to continuously improve our environmental performance.
Our job and workplace: Swedish Match is committed to responsible and safe practices and procedures in all business activities both on the job and in the workplace. We promote a working environment with high standards of ethics and morale, where our employees respect and care for one another, Swedish Match as well as the environment.
As part of our activities to help ensure awareness of the Code of Conduct and to find out whether our employees have reviewed or been informed about the Code, we conduct periodic employee surveys. Mandatory training on the Code of Conduct is done through e-learning to supplement town hall meetings and similar events. Employees without e-mail accounts, hourly employees and consultants receive training related to the Code of Conduct in group sessions. All employees are to participate in the training on an ongoing basis. Matters addressed in the Code of Conduct are continuously communicated to employees through, for example, the Company’s Intranet.
At Swedish Match we have zero tolerance towards corruption and bribery. Swedish Match shall not participate in, or through third parties, endorse any corrupt practices. This is clearly stated in our Code. Raising awareness and knowledge in these areas within our organization is of high importance and targeted employees are required to complete a specific e-learning on the subject. The e-learning is also open to anyone else within the organization.
At Swedish Match we work continuously and systematically to assess our internal processes, work efficiently and reduce impacts we have on the environment.
The effects of climate change pose a risk to all of us. At Swedish Match, we acknowledge the severity of this issue and we welcome the rising ambitions within the corporate sector at a global scale. We commit to do our part in addressing climate change supported by science-based targets for our business’ value chain.
Please see Reduce greenhouse gases and Reduce waste and emissions for more information on the Company’s efforts to reduce the negative impact on the environment.
Swedish Match has focused on certifying those facilities that account for the largest part of the Company’s production and sales and the majority of our production facilities (9 of 15) are ISO 14001 certified. Non-certified factories include our match factories in Curitiba and Piraí do Sul, Brazil, lighters factory in Manaus, Brazil, and businesses acquired since 2017 (V2 Tobacco, House of Oliver Twist, and Gotlandssnus).
In our focus area Reduce greenhouse gases we set out to do our part in reaching the global targets on climate change, considering emissions in our full value chain. Our goal is to reflect the commitments outlined in the Paris Agreement and thereby reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in our entire value chain.
Swedish Match has committed to reduce absolute scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions 41 percent by 2030 and 75 percent by 2050 from a 2017 base year. In 2018, these targets were submitted to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)1) for an official validation and verified against the SBTi criteria. In March 2019, the targets were approved. This means that SBTi has recognized Swedish Match’s targets as being science-based and thus in line with the level of decarbonization required to keep global temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial temperatures.
Please see Reduce greenhouse gases for more information.
Timber for our match production is sourced locally, close to our factories in Sweden and Brazil. Approximately 99 percent of the timber for production of matches in Brazil is grown in Swedish Match’s own plantations. The remaining volume is sourced from local suppliers. Our plantations consist of roughly 4,700 hectares of planted poplar and pine in the south of the Paraná state and in the north of the Santa Catarina state. Our plantations adhere to strict growing requirements beyond those levels set by local laws and regulations.
Aspen used for the production of matches in Sweden is sourced from the southern part of Sweden in the vicinity of our splint factory and is primarily sourced through major timber suppliers. Relatively small quantities are also sourced directly from individual forest owners. Swedish Match Industries AB, the entity producing matches in Sweden, is certified according to FSC’s standards for Chain of Custody and Controlled Wood.
For both Swedish snus and US moist snuff, the plastic cans and lids are made from polypropylene. Rolls of cans are mostly shrink-wrapped in polyethylene. At complete combustion, only carbon dioxide and water remain from these plastics. All coloring agents in the plastic are approved for food packaging.
Paperboard is the standard snus packaging used for loose snus. It is made from recycled paper and the inside is covered in paraffin wax to keep the product separated from the packaging. Using paperboard means that the packaging materials will biodegrade easily.
For cigars, the usage of FoilFresh® packaging has provided longer shelf life of products, reducing the need for returns of old or stale product, which in turn can reduce waste to the landfill.
Also, the use of 100 percent recycled paperboard within certain packaging formats has increased significantly over the past years. All byproduct paper from the production of packaging material used in the Company’s factory in Dothan (Alabama, the US) is returned to the supplier, who converts it to an energy source.
For matches, post-consumer recycled fibers are being used for the vast majority of the production of inner and outer match boxes. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified materials are increasingly being used for match cardboard.
For lighters, packaging for utility lighters has been developed which helps to minimize the use of material. This also helps to maximize the amount of units that can be loaded on freight containers when distributing the products. Nylon usage for lighter production at the Assen factory has been reduced which should result in notable waste reduction in production in the coming years.
Swedish Match acknowledges the importance of sustainable agriculture, and that support and collaboration from national governments as well as international organizations is essential in order to address these issues.
It has been estimated that less than 0.1 percent of the agricultural land in the world is devoted to tobacco farming, and that this land may also be used to grow non-tobacco crops, such as food, during certain months of the year. Swedish Match’s standpoint is that tobacco farmers are best positioned to choose the composition of crops they grow. Tobacco farming is also a valuable and predictable source of income, which contributes to increase the welfare of farmers and can enhance food security in the middle run.
No, Swedish Match does not use any kind of genetically modified tobacco in its products.
We recognize that child labor represents a serious human rights violation in many parts of the world, including areas where we have suppliers. We are committed to improving our risk analyses and processes to proactively reduce and eventually eliminate child labor and related human rights issues with regard to this focus area in our value chain.
Our goal is the elimination of child labor in the Company’s value chain.
Please see Eliminate child labor for more information on our efforts within this area.
In our efforts to contribute to a more sustainable world, managing our supply chain sustainably is fundamental to long term success. We have procedures in place, and under continuous development, to further emphasize sustainable supply chain management. Our Supplier Code of Conduct specifies what we expect and require from our suppliers in terms of employment and labor practices, workplace practices, ethical business practices and environmental management practices. The Supplier Code of Conduct forms the basis for our relationship with suppliers and is an integral part of most of our significant business agreements.
Activities to assure sustainable supply chain management include active dialogue and communication of Swedish Match’s requirements, follow-up on adherence, sustainability audits and proactive community investments.
Please see Eliminate child labor for more information on Swedish Match’s efforts within the supply chain.
During the supplier engagement process, Swedish Match may recommend that certain actions be taken to improve a supplier’s sustainability efforts. Should a supplier fail to comply with the Company’s recommendations, Swedish Match shall strive to resolve the situation through cooperation and information or, if deemed necessary, terminate the relationship.
No, Swedish Match does not conduct animal testing of its products or product constituents.
Swedish Match Code of Conduct complies with international conventions and guidelines on human rights and labor conditions. The international conventions and guidelines referred to here are the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the eight ILO Core Conventions (Nos. 29, 87, 98, 105, 100, 111, 138, and 182), and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
Information can be found on Sustainability on the Company’s website. You will also find information in Swedish Match’s annual report.
At December 31, 2019, the share of females among Swedish Match’s total workforce was 40 percent. The share of female managers with direct reports were 26 percent and the share of females in senior management (defined as participants in the Company’s LTI program) was 17 percent.
In 2019, one member (13 percent) of Group Management was female. Three members (30 percent) of the Company’s Board of Directors were female, including employee representatives but not deputy employee representatives. Share of female members in Board of Directors appointed by the Annual General Meeting was 43%.
Please see Equal opportunity for more information.
Swedish Match complies with the eight International Labour Organization (ILO) Core Conventions (Nos. 29, 87, 98, 105, 100, 111, 138, and 182). Within the area of freedom of association and collective bargaining, the Company specifically complies with convention number 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention) and number 98 (Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention).
Swedish Match recognizes and respects employees’ rights and freedom to join or form (non-violent) assembly or associations of their own choice and to bargain collectively. No employee shall be subject to dismissal, discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or retaliation for exercising these rights. Swedish Match shall facilitate open communication and direct engagement between employees and management in situations where the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining are restricted under law.
Employee representation structures are in place on all sites in Sweden. In accordance with the Act on Co-Determination at Work (MBL), Swedish Match has an agreement concerning collaboration with trade union organizations active in the Group´s Swedish business units. Under this agreement, a council comprising management representatives and employee representatives appointed to the board of Directors meets in advance of scheduled Board meetings and on other ad hoc occasions. The council focuses on particular issues that could result in MBL negotiations. A reference group also meets in advance of such Board meetings, comprised of local trade union representatives on waged and salaried employees.
In the US, union rights are protected by law under the National Labor Relations Act. Swedish Match complies with all legal requirements of the Act by respecting employees’ freedom of association, mutual aid or protection, self-organization, to form, join or assist in labor organizations, to bargain collectively for wages and working conditions through representatives of their own choosing and to engage in other protected concerted activities with or without a Union.
In Brazil, union participation is mandatory according to the Brazilian Labour Laws. Annual negotiations of agreements and labor conditions are conducted within each professional category.
