• Skip to main content
  • Go to main navigation
  • Go to language selector
SearchFree text

Swedish Match
  • svenska
Close
  • Swedish Match websites

    • Image Bank
    • Swedish Match Brasil
    • Swedish Match Industries
    • Snus and Match Museum
  • Brand websites

    Smokefree

    • Swedish Match e-commerce service (SE)
    • Swedish Match e-commerce service (CH)
    • Swedish Match e-commerce service (NO)
    • General (US)
    • Longhorn (US)
    • Pinkerton Tobacco
    • Niqo Co.

    Lights

    • Cricket
    • Nitedals
    • Redheads
  • Other

    • Swedish Match Denmark
    • The Solstickan Foundation (SE)
  • Our company More Less

    Our company

    • Operating locations
    • Vision and strategy
    • Markets More Less
      • Our product categories and markets
      • Trends
    • Company history More Less
      • Svenska Tobaks AB
      • Svenska Tändsticks AB
      • Swedish Match AB
    • Corporate brand
  • Our business More Less

    Our business

    • Smokefree More Less
      • Nicotine products and regulations
      • History of snus
      • Snus production
      • Ingredients in snus
    • Cigars More Less
      • History of cigars
    • Lights

    Snus production

  • Corporate Governance More Less

    Corporate Governance

    • Annual General Meeting More Less
      • AGM address and minutes
      • Auditors
      • Articles of association
    • Board of Directors
    • Management
    • Corporate Governance reports
    Participants at the AGM

    Annual General Meeting

  • Sustainability More Less

    Sustainability

    • Sustainability strategy
    • Goals and progress
    • Our contribution to the UN SDGs More Less
      • UN SDGs aligned with our focus areas
      • UN SDGs beyond our focus areas
    • Strategy and organization
    • Materiality assessment More Less
      • Other topics outside our focus areas
      • Sustainable Tobacco Program
    • Value chain
    • Code of Conduct More Less
      • Supplier Code of Conduct
    • Focus areas More Less
      • Improve public health
      • Ensure ethical business practices
      • Reduce environmental impact
      • Human rights in our supply chain
      • Equal opportunity
    • Risk management
    • Sustainability reporting
    • Sustainability FAQ
    • Sustainability contacts
  • Investors More Less

    Investors

    • The share More Less
      • Per share data
      • Dividend information
      • Share holdings
    • Presentations
    • Financial reports More Less
      • Interim reports
      • Annual reports
    • Financial tables More Less
      • Income statement
      • Balance sheet
      • Cash flow analysis
      • By product segment More Less
        • Sales
        • Operating profit
        • Operating margin
      • Key ratios
      • Statement of comprehensive income
    • Debt information More Less
      • Debt sources of financing
      • Debt programs
      • Outstanding bonds
      • Credit rating
    • IR contacts
    • Information on cash offer announcement by PMI
    • To the minority owners of Swedish Match AB
  • Media More Less

    Media

    • Press releases and news
    • Images More Less
      • Swedish Match logotype
    • Videos
    • Media contacts
  • Snus and health More Less

    Snus and health

    • Our standpoint
    • The Swedish Experience
    • Research on snus
    • Smoking cessation
    • GOTHIATEK® More Less
      • GOTHIATEK® standard
    • Snus and the Swedish Food Act
    • Nicotine More Less
      • Nicotine labeling of Swedish Match products
      • Snus, nicotine and nicotine addiction
    • Tobacco use More Less
      • Tobacco use in figures
    GOTHIATEK® Quality standard

    Swedish Match quality standard

  • Career More Less

    Career

    • Employee strategy
    • Our culture More Less
      • Employee surveys
    • Work environment
    • Diversity and non-discrimination
    • Competence development
    • Compensation and benefits
    • What we do
    • Vacant positions
    • Student
    • HR contacts
    employees

    Vacant positions

Our websites
Language:
  • English
  • svenska
Sustainability
  • Sustainability strategy
  • Goals and progress
  • Our contribution to the UN SDGs
  • Strategy and organization
  • Materiality assessment
    • Other topics outside our focus areas
    • Sustainable Tobacco Program
  • Value chain
  • Code of Conduct
  • Focus areas
  • Risk management
  • Sustainability reporting
  • Sustainability FAQ
  • Sustainability contacts

Other topics outside our focus areas

For best impact and transparency, we believe that group-wide efforts and reporting are most effective if concentrated to key focus areas. Our Code of Conduct covers important sustainability topics above and beyond our five focus areas.

It includes our policies on practices regarding ethical business, employment and labor, the environment, as well as job and workplace. We also address a broad array of key sustainability issues in our tobacco supply chain, by primarily purchasing from large global suppliers with robust due diligence processes and through participation in the Sustainable Tobacco Program (STP).

Some of the specific questions we have received from external stakeholders relate to deforestation and biodiversity, water stress and occupational health and safety. More explanations are provided below with regards to why these topics are not included in our Group sustainability focus areas and how we approach them.

Deforestation and biodiversity

Swedish Match does not own any farms other than our forestry plantations in Brazil. Our plantations in Brazil comprise pine wood in a reforestation project in the south of the Paraná state. We replant more than we harvest every year for our pine forest. Based on normal annual harvesting, this involves replanting approximately 150 hectares annually. Due to the combination of declining demand for matches and technological advancements on our side that have enabled wider usage of pine wood, we have been able to replace the majority of the poplar wood used in our match production with pine wood and also sold off our land used for poplar. Swedish Match owns a total of 3,419 hectares of pine forestry but the Group’s biological assets comprise both poplar and pine forests, 3,686 hectares, which also includes poplar land we do not own but have the right to harvest from.

Our operations in Brazil protect biodiversity in the plantation by, for instance, restraining external human access to its lands and forests, prohibiting hunting and fishing, and keeping surveillance services in forests. We stopped using pesticides for forestry disease control in 2018.

In our tobacco supply chain, a vast majority of the tobacco used does not require wood fire in its processing. Processing that dries the tobacco over an open wood fire might in some cases lead to deforestation. In addition, we address the issue through participation in STP. Under the STP, there is a dedicated reporting theme, Natural habitats. All the participating suppliers are subject to generic risk screening and self-assessment to evaluate their impact on deforestation and biodiversity in the local communities where they operate.

If our suppliers have subsidiaries located in geographies where there is an elevated risk of non-compliance with the high standard set by STP for deforestation, in-depth assessments will be performed by a third party with subject expertise. Results of these assessments will form the foundation for a dialogue for improvement between us and the suppliers.

Water stress

Swedish Match neither withdraws water from any source that is significantly affected by the water withdrawal, nor discharges water into sensitive water bodies. Swedish Match’s water footprint in absolute terms is fairly low as the Company’s production processes require relatively low water usage. Our smokefree products are manufactured in Sweden, Denmark and the US. For cigars, matches and lighters, a significant proportion of our production occurs in the US (cigars), Sweden (matches) and the Netherlands (lighters) which are areas that have well-developed regulations with regard to water sourcing and use.
One area where Swedish Match has previously needed a higher water supply is for its poplar farms in Brazil where trees historically have been planted to be used in the Brazilian match production. Drier periods during spring and summer may lead to a higher necessity for irrigation. However, as mentioned earlier, our technological advancements made in recent years have enabled us to replace the majority of the poplar wood used in our match production with pine wood and we have sold off our land used for poplar. Unlike poplar plantations, pine plantations do not need any irrigation. With this initiative we have reduced our own water use to an even lower level.

We address potential issues related to water use from our tobacco supply chain through participation in STP. Under the STP, there is a dedicated reporting theme for water stewardship with a similar due diligence process as described under Deforestation and biodiversity.

Occupational health and safety

Employees’ safety and well-being are matters of high importance to us. Swedish Match is dedicated to providing ergonomically sound workplaces, free from health and safety hazards. Specific activities, including safety trainings and wellness programs, are carried out at the divisional level to ensure the physical and mental wellbeing of our employees. This has also been demonstrated by additional measures taken place locally to protect the well-being of our employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each division tracks safety metrics for employees and subcontractors and reports data to the CEO. Furthermore, periodic inspections are conducted by an independent third party at major production facilities. These inspections assess, among other things, to what level the facilities meet Swedish Match work safety standards and determine whether there are actions required to further reduce risk.

 

Share

Share Facebook Share Twitter Share Linkedin

Share this page by email

Incorrect email
Incorrect email
Home / Sustainability / Materiality assessment / Other topics outside our focus areas

Contact us

  • IR contacts
  • Media contacts
  • Sustainability contacts
  • HR contacts
  • Consumer contact
  • Web contact

Find us

  • Headquarters
  • Sales office
  • Factory
  • Distribution
  • Store
  • Research & Development
  • All addresses
Map

Corporate headquarters

Phone: +46 10 13 93 000

Sveavägen 44
SE-118 85 Stockholm

Corporate headquarters
Swedish Match

Swedish Match AB
SE-118 85 Stockholm

Phone +46 10 13 93 000
Corporate reg no. 556015-0756
contactus@swedishmatch.com

About the website

  • Sitemap
  • Site policy
  • Privacy notice
  • Information about cookies
  • Legal responsibility

Find information

  • Search
  • FAQ
  • Archive
  • Glossary

Follow us

Facebook Twitter Linkedin