Waste

 

Smurfit Kappa’s aim is to contribute to a world without waste, supporting the concept of circularity.

As the demand for goods and services grows, efficient resource use and waste minimisation feature strongly in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Smurfit Kappa contributes by using renewable and recycled resources and focusing on efficiency in energy and water use.

Our products are designed to prevent the loss and damage of the consumer goods they protect. Our packaging is produced efficiently and is ‘right-weighted’ to optimise effectiveness and minimise waste. Made from 100% renewable and recyclable materials, packaging can be recycled 8-25 times, as per a recent study, and once fibres are depleted, is typically used for energy generation or in agriculture.

A world without waste

We believe the circular economy is the business model of the future, and that we have an important role to play. Avoiding waste is an important issue for our stakeholders, and many of our customers have stated objectives to reduce it.

Eventually, all waste should be seen as a raw material, and with a recycling rate of 88%, the paper-based packaging solutions we provide meet that ambition. But we would like to close further loops and work with stakeholders such as consumers and other industries to recover and/or recycle waste materials that would otherwise be sent to landfill.

Our Commitments

Commitment #1: Decrease the waste sent to landfill by 30% per tonne of product produced by our mill system compared with 2013 levels by 2025.

Progress made: Since 2013, we reached a 24% reduction.

Our Better Planet Packaging initiative focuses on reducing packaging litter and drives innovation for paper-based packaging, while keeping our raw materials in the recycling loop.

We are also working with the recycling and paper producing industries to keep our raw materials in the recycling loop