Smurfit Kappa celebrates a decade of sustainability excellence

Smurfit Kappa is currently celebrating ten years of sustainability achievements, following the news that the packaging company is on-course to meet its 2020 goals.

Its tenth annual sustainability report was released today; since beginning to publish these reports a decade ago, Smurfit Kappa has diligently measured its own environmental impact, reaching full Chain of Custody certification for the entire raw material supply chain in the process. The business has cut CO2 emissions by 23 percent and improved the quality of its discharge water by 32 percent – both of these statistics are creeping extraordinarily near to the 2020 goal of 25 percent and 33 percent respectively.

The report focusses on five key areas: Forest, Climate Change, Water, Waste, and People. The data within it shows that there has been a significant reduction in the amount of water waste sent to landfill, as well as detailing a 60 million euro investment in water treatment plants.

Smurfit Kappa has also been investing in social and scientific projects, supporting the communities in which it operates. Over 30 million euros have been invested in projects, ranging from providing improved facilities and play therapy at a school for children with disabilities in Italy, to working with Colombian universities to study and protect the flora and fauna in the company’s forests.

Key findings from the 2016 report include:

Forest

• Over 90 percent of packaging supplied to customers is Chain of Custody certified

Climate Change

• 22.9 percent reduction of fossil CO₂ emissions per tonne of paper produced (against 2005 baseline)

Water

• Completed mill-specific water risk assessments in eleven paper mills
• 31.9 percent reduction in relative amounts of COD in discharge water (compared to 2005)

Waste

• 13.3 percent reduction in waste sent to landfill

People

• Health and Safety: Reduced the Lost Time Accident (LTA) frequency rate by 10 percent in 2016
• Implemented over 1,000 follow-up actions as a result of the MyVoice employee survey

“Smurfit Kappa is playing its part in creating a sustainable future by building a profitable business based on sustainable principles. We will continue to pioneer innovative ways to be sustainable to create value for both our customers and shareholders,” said Tony Smurfit, Group CEO of Smurfit Kappa. 

Steven Stoffer, Group Vice President of Development, with responsibility for sustainability within Smurfit Kappa, added: “Compared to other packaging materials, paper is the most sustainable, therefore sustainability is within the very DNA of our company. These latest results are a testament to the contribution everyone at Smurfit Kappa makes to reach our ambitious goals. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made over the past decade, and very pleased to be on track to meet our 2020 sustainability goals.”

Click here to read the full sustainability report