"Throughout Verso's history and continuing today, the Verso Foundation document—the framework for our core values, vision, mission and principles—guides our everyday decisions and keeps us focused on the things that matter most," said Verso Chairman, President and CEO Dave Paterson. "One of these is an uncompromising respect for a sustainable balance among economic, social and environmental needs. The theme of this year's Sustainability Report, "A Principled Path to Sustainability," reflects not only how we achieve this balance, but also who we are as a company."

The 2015 report is organized according to Verso's five sustainability principles, which focus on responsible sourcing, environmental and safety improvement, product stewardship, stakeholder partnerships and transparency. 

2015 Sustainability Highlights

• Verso's Lost Workday Incident Rate (LWIR)—a measure of serious injuries—improved 10 percent to 0.54; however, the company's Total Incident Rate (TIR) increased slightly over the previous year to 1.44.

• Forty-eight percent of the fiber used in Verso's products was third-party certified and 32 percent of its total paper sold was chain-of-custody certified.

• Carbon-neutral, wood-based biomass accounted for 64.4 percent of on-site energy generated at Verso's mills.

• Over 58 percent of the manufacturing byproducts generated at Verso's mills was reused for energy generation and 28.1 percent was reclaimed for other beneficial reuse applications. Only 13.7 percent of Verso's solid waste was sent to landfills.

• Nearly 1.4 million pounds of paper were recovered for recycling through the Duluth Mill's magazine collection program, with 6.8 million pounds recovered since its inception in 2008.

• Verso has the capability to offer FSC^®, SFI^® and PEFC^™ chain-of-custody certified products across all paper and pulp grades and products with 10 percent to 30 percent recycled fiber content.

• Verso and its employees made financial and in-kind contributions totaling approximately $638,000 to a wide variety of community organizations with a focus on education, sustainability, and local health and human services.

• Verso purchased goods and services to run its business from more than 2,450 local/regional vendors, spending more than $950 million. In addition, the company spent nearly $550 millionon local/regional purchases of wood needed to manufacture its products. 

For more information, download a copy of Verso's 2015 Sustainability Report from the company's website, www.versoco.com/sustainability.