KapStone Paper and Packaging Corp., Northbrook, Ill., USA, this week released its 2014 sustainability report, which continues to demonstrate the company's progress toward meeting its 2020 sustainability goals. The goals were developed based on the company's commitment to social responsibility and extend well beyond applicable laws and regulations mandated by federal, state and local government entities, the company notes.

The report conforms to a voluntary standard defined by the Global Reporting Initiative's G4 guidelines, reporting at a core level, and compares the company's performance with the 2010 year as the baseline. Also included in KapStone's report is a materiality assessment review, which engaged stakeholders to evaluate perception of corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

"I want to thank all of our stakeholders, which include customers, employees, and suppliers for contributing to KapStone's progress against our sustainability goals and for supporting our company principles in such a meaningful and impactful way. While challenges remain, we will continue to strive to be the best corporate citizen possible and trust that our stakeholders will continue to support our efforts for years to come," said KapStone Paper and Packaging President and COO Matt Kaplan.

KapStone's 2014 Sustainability Report addresses the three areas of importance to society and business throughout the world and the company's focus on: 1) producing environmentally-sound product solutions for customers; 2) protecting the environment in all of its manufacturing and business processes; and 3) ensuring a better future for employees and communities.

In the category of environmentally-sound product solutions, KapStone is pioneering innovative paper grades with significant environmental advantages. KapStone's customers look for creative packaging products that offer expansion into new markets, are optimized for the product they contain, and are sustainable. KapStone's innovative products span several market segments including high performance multiwall bags, specialty kraft papers, saturating kraft, containerboard, corrugated packaging, and solid fiberboard packaging.

In the category of environmental protection, as of the end of 2014, KapStone achieved 100% of its goal to have SFI® and PEFC™ Chain-of-Custody (CoC) certification for all mill division operations. In addition, all of its full-line box plants and sheet feeder plants are certified to SFI certified sourcing standards. Finally, the company is making excellent progress against its 2020 sustainability goals, having exceeded target reductions in criteria air emissions while making excellent progress towards meeting energy use and greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. Water usage increased over the prior year; however, expectations are that projects completed in 2014 will help drive improvements in the future.

In the category of people and community, KapStone reported a 29% reduction in workforce injuries since 2010 and reconfirmed its commitment to achieving a 70% reduction in its incident rate by 2020. As mentioned in the report, safety continues to be KapStone's most important value. The company also reported on the strength of its internal training programs and the support provided to local communities.

KapStone Paper and Packaging Corp. is a producer of containerboard, unbleached kraft paper, and corrugated products, and a provider of packaging and logistics solutions.The company operates four paper mills, 22 converting plants, and more than 65 warehouses and distribution centers in North America. The business employs approximately 6,000 people.