SmurfIt Kappa (Ireland,) has had a long-term commitment to making real and measurable progress against its five strategic sustainability priorities of forest, climate change, water, waste, and people.  

Earlier this year, the packaging leader announced that it had met, and in some cases exceeded, its previous sustainability goals in the areas of people, climate change, and water, with the last two goals achieved three years ahead of their 2020 deadline. 

While Smurfit Kappa’s paper-based packaging is renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable, the paper production process itself is resource-intensive so that a new set of goals has been outlined to build on the progress already made. These are:

• Maintaining >90% chain of custody certification of annual customer deliveries
• Maintaining 100% chain of custody operating system certification
• Assessing energy usage reduction opportunities in converting operations by 2020
• Performing water risk assessments for paper mills not yet assessed by 2020
• Decreasing water discharge intensity by 60% by 2025 compared with 2005
• Decreasing paper mill fossil intensity by 40% by 2030 compared with 2005
• Reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill by 30% by 2025.

In the area of People, a new Health and Safety goal has been set which aims to reduce the Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) by 5% annually.

Speaking about the new goals, Steven Stoffer, VP of development, said that "this new set of goals has been drawn up to make sure we retain our leadership in the field of sustainability by reflecting the ambitious EU sustainability agenda into the targets for our global operating network and thereby continuing to push for sustainable innovation.

"Over the past few years we have made solid progress in our efforts to contribute to a more sustainable society and we are keen to continue on this journey, collaborating with our various groups of stakeholders."

Smurfit Kappa releases a Sustainable Development Report every year, which contains a detailed overview of its sustainability performance, strategic direction, and a review of the businesses underpinning its strategy.